One mistake After Another
by Anna Marcia Gregorio
Summary: Mistake number 1: stepping in. Mistake 2: throwing that punch. 3: believing Mystique. Mistake 4: Remy LeBeau. 5: leaving the x-men b/c of Remy LeBeau. 6: trusting Belladonna; and still Remy LeBeau. 7: being thrown in jail with and b/c of Remy LeBeau.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot idea.

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Before I go into this, I want y'all to take a long deep breath and close your eyes.

Yeah, that's right.

I want you to close your eyes and imagine that you're on the soccer field, your long red hair swaying with your every movement, the lub-dub of your heart beat as the adrenaline in your veins accelerates as you glance at the rest of your soccer team, knowing the game plan that will finish this game in your favor. Imagine glancing over toward the stadium stands and seeing one hell of a guy standing there, cheering you on with his quiet smile, his eyes following you behind those ruby red glasses that you know hold a deadly glare- and you can hear him- yes, hear him- praising your talent on the field, and the feel the love radiate from him. You and feel this over the adrenaline, hear his thoughts over the spectators in the bleachers. And everything is perfect.

Too bad it's not me on the field.

I wasn't even in the bleachers watching Jeannie and Scotty-boy have this little interaction.

Nope. Ah would be the one under the bleachers having a tongue war with the bastard that has repeatedly tried to kill me.

Okay, wait, I should try to narrow that down. I'm having a tongue war with the swamp rat bastard that has repeatedly tried to kill me. Yep, Remy LeBeau. Swamp Rat Extraordinaire. Sweet-talking, charming, egotistical idiotic Remy LeBeau you can't keep his damn hands to him self. The LeBeau who at this moment is the reason I am stuck in this damn jail cell.

Now, your probably wondering why ah was engaging in such an activity with a person I seem to dislike. Well, that's easy to explain.

This day that I told you to image? It's the day everything went to hell. And I do mean everything. I didn't use to think Remy was all that bad, sure, a bit touchy feely- but not always. Just at first and now… again. Maybe I should tell it from the very beginning, and not just from this point… yeah.

~)(~

I was down in Louisiana on vacation with Irene, before my x-gene made itself know, having a good ole relaxing time out there when I heard some shouting, I know it wasn't the smartest thing to do, leave a blind woman unattended- but my curiosity was just peaked. You know what they say, "Curiosity killed the cat" and so I sneaked away from Irene and followed the muffled shouting down to an abandoned alleyway.

When I got there I saw these two guys surrounded by a whole bunch of scary looking guys. And I don't mean these other guys were buffed up to the extreme- no only half of them were. The thing that made them scary was that their obvious leader- some blonde haired youth only a couple of years older than me- had this sadistic look on his face that just screamed scary. If I had been anybody else I would have ran away and wished good luck and god speed for the two fools for getting caught up in whatever it was that there were in. Any sane person would have walked away-especially after the glimpse of guns on one of Blondie's gang buddies. Hell, I should've ran when I realized every one of Blondie's men had a gun on them.

"Lapin," the younger of the two hissed, "I don't think we're going to get home by eleven."

"Shush it Etienne!"

That's when I heard the chuckling of Blondie boy over there. His head was bowed and I could see the hint of smile that was etched on his face. It wasn't a nice smile. It makes me sick even thinking about it now.

"Well, well ,well. A couple of t'ieves jus' happen to breach onto our territory." He leaned in closer to the two. The taller one, Lapin, I guess, took a step as if shielding the younger boy. " You bot' know that you aint welcomed here."

The two just stood there, real quietly like, waiting, for something to happen. That's when Blondie's fist came out of nowhere and laid a good one on Lapin's face. I could hear the crunch of the boy's nose all the way in my shadowed alley. Its when I saw the fist bunch up again that I felt the impulse to do something.

"Hello?!"

Yeah, I know, real original, but I didn't know what else to do to pause the guy's brutality. But hey, I caught their attention at least.

"You boys wouldn't be starting a fight, would ya?"

Blondie's fist unclenched as he looking me over, not seeing a threat. I remember thinking 'Idiot' loud and clear as I looked him over. I saw that slow smile cross his mouth again, finding some sick humor in something.

"Why, not at all. I was just having a little chat with dese two boys here."

Oh boy, did he really think that was going to fly so easy with me?

"Really? Cause it looks to me as if you have these two backed into a corner while you and your merry band of village people have the unfair advantage."

I don't know if it was honor and trying to get me out of this mix up, or if it was humiliation for getting help from a girl in a fight, but Lapin spoke up behind me. "Look girl, we don't need your help-"

"Shut it Thumper" was all I said to him. I guess despite the tension among all of us, the Blondie found that absolutely hilarious.

"Have the t'ieves sunk down to where you rely on a _fille_ to protect dem? You t'ieves really have no honor at all." That's when Blondie got really close to me and was all in my face. I could smell the stench of his late night barhopping on his breath. "Why don't you run on home, _fille_, wouldn' want you t' break a nail." He threw his head back in laughter at his stereotypical insult.

Well, he did have a good long laugh at the insult towards me. I allowed him to. Because when his face came back down to look at me again, my fist met his face. And boy was he surprised. So surprised that he ended up falling on his arse in front of me.

"Now, is that anyway to speak to a girl? I thought southern guys lahke you were suppose' to have some manners. "

To say I was satisfied by the look on his face would be an understatement. The wild look in Blondie's eyes from shock and then unbounded anger as his friends helped him to his feet was more than enough to make me give my self a rather large pat on the back and congratulate myself of a job well done.

I probably should have waited to do my victory dance because the next thing I know, Blondie, with his broken nose bleeding profusely, took a step toward me with his fist clenched up and all I had time for was the tensing up of my shoulders as I waited to for the crack of my own face breaking.

Only thing is, it didn't come.

Sure, I heard a first hit something, but when I opened my eyes again, Blondie boy was back on the ground with his hand babying his left eye. I was a bit confused as to what the heck was going on until I saw the arrival of some new guy standing just in front of me to my right.

"Julian, didn't your _pere_ ever teach y' to treat a _femme_ wit' some respect?"

And that ladies and gentlemen, is my first impression of Remy LeBeau.

And it was a brief first impression, because as soon as I got a good look at his profile I was being yanked back away from Blondie- I mean, Julian- and his gang by Lapin and- what's his face's name. We had barely gotten past the building I hid between when I heard and saw the explosion behind me. When I looked back, all I could see was- well, I could see everything. The walls of the building flashed pink briefly, the magenta glow fading as the explosion sounded. I saw the blackened pavement on the street where Julian and his gang were standing, and I saw the figure running at us. My first instinct was to run behind something and wait till the figure passed then attack, but then as he got closer I realized this was the guy that saved my face from becoming a pancake. My eyes become detached from this guys figure as I heard shouts coming from behind him and I saw that Julian and his gang were picking themselves off the ground and reaching for something. I swear- I didn't know I had stopped running. But apparently I had because the guy you protected me suddenly knocked the wind out of me as he wrapped and arm around my torso and suddenly I'm behind half carried, half dragged as gun shots sound through the air and little puffs of dirt bursting from the walls next to my head are making me flinch. It took me a second to realize that those tiny dirt clouds erupting next to my head and the gunshot's were related. After realizing that, I wasn't being dragged anymore. Hell no. I was running for dear life.

After running a few generous blocks, I felt my wrist being clamped down on and I was jerked to a halt. The youngest of the guys I was with- Etienne- asked me if I was okay. I just shook my head yes and concentrated on getting air in and out of my lungs again.

"Remy, I didn't know they dey were gonna be dere. I swear, Etienne and I made sure no one was dere. It had t' o' been a trap."

"I know. I ove' heard Belle talk abou' her _frère_ staging something."

By now, I had my breathing back in control. Now, I was just shaking. I mean, it's not everyday that you get shot at, right? I guess my shivering was noticeable because the weight of something draping across my shoulders made itself known. I looked to my shoulder and I see a leather trench coat and then the most outstanding eyes I have ever seen. Most unusual too. But those red and black eyes just seemed to calm my nerves at once. I felt his eyes take in all the details of me, from my black boots and covered skin to my green eyes and white streaks in my hair. It felt like eternity before he spoke.

"An' who might y' be _petit_? "

"Ah- Ah've got to get back."

"But _chere_-"

We all fell quiet as the sound of footsteps approached. Etienne and Lapin pulled me back towards the shadows, as Remy stood in front of me. I know what we were all thinking. Julian and his boys were back.

"Anna? Anna? Are you there?"

And I didn't know whether or not to curse Irene the next moment or to praise her like a saint. I'm surprised I didn't hear the soft tap of her cane before hand, but I let out a shaky breath of relief- and a little bit of guilt as I heard her worried tone. I shrugged off Lapin's grip and out of the trench coat."

"Yeah, Irene. Ah'm right here." I called back. I was heading back to her when I felt something incase my wrist yet again. I looked back and I see this Remy guy look at me with one hell of an attractive smirk on his face.

"See y' around, Anna." He pulled my hand closer to him, placing a kiss on, all the while those red and black eyes watching me. I took back my hand and I just stared at him for a moment before I remembered Irene.

"Probably not, swamp rat." Was all I could say before I headed back towards the crowds and Irene.

But just before I was out of hearing I heard Lapin say something about assassins not being happy. But their voices faded away as I guided Irene back to the safety of the overcrowded streets.

"Have fun, dear?" Irene said, surprising me from my thoughts. I looked at her and she had this smile on her face as if she knew something I didn't. A few years down the road, I realized that all the times she gave me that smile; she really did know something I didn't. I found out Irene was a precog- a mutant and that the skin condition she hounded into my head was my mutation.

And things went from there.

I met Mystique. I became one of the Brotherhood. I fought the X-men then later became an X-men. And life went on.

Until I met that damn swamp rat again.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the idea of the plot

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I aint one to lie and say that life is perfect. Hell, my life is far from it. I got a mother who manipulated me into staying with her and fight her battles for her. I never had a thing against Professor Xavier. So when my mamma finally pushed me over the edge, I really didn't have to think all that hard about where my loyalties lie and who I was gonna stand next to.

Now don't get me wrong here, I did not turn my back on the Brotherhood. You see, the way I figure it, Mamma- I mean Mystique tricked the bunch of them the same way she did me. Through lies and deceit. With that in mind, I felt sympathy for them. If they weren't so dead set in causing trouble after I joined Xavier's happy lot of wanna-be superheroes, I wouldn't have had to knock them down a peg or two.

So naturally, when Good ole Xavier announced that we were going up against Magnet Brain, it felt kinda like a reunion of old friends. Granted we were never joined at the arms and skipping on our way to our missions, but still that vibe of camaraderie was present.

And good ole Scotty boy just had to pitch a fit.

Well, we win some we loose some.

And boy was I about to loose it.

~)(~

"Okay guys, Magneto is up to something here. I'm not sure what but I have the feeling that it will be monumental to everything."

As Jeannie started the pep talk I had to hand it to her. She was stepping' up to the plate where Scotty Boy lacked the guts. Good for her. Not that her authority is gonna fly so well with all of us. Especially the Brotherhood. But low and behold, they kept their traps shut. Even Lance. You would think that Lance would have a bit of a hard time taking orders when he's usually the one giving them… Maybe that's why Scotty and him were frequently at odds.

Well, as I was off in my own thoughts, I 'accidentally' tuned out the pep speech that Grey was giving us. I can probably tell you the gist of it. Something about teamwork being important and a key factor and that this was a prime example of professor Xavier's goal: mutants working together for the common good of the people. I'm pretty sure I head Todd snort once or twice during Jeannie's speech. Not that I can condemn him. At least he was paying attention.

So our happy band of vigilante heroes made our way down to the docks. And badda bing, badda boom. The action begins. It was almost kinda comical now that I think about it. Here we are a bunch of trained mutant teenagers hell bent on not doing permanent damage going up against the men that Magnet Brain- a man insufferably set on having mutants superior to humans- had selected to do something "monumental", as Jeannie put it. And we all knew that that type of monumental was not gonna be in our "equal rights for all" favor.

And so, when those four spheres touched ground, we- Xavier's and company- waited with abated breath to see what monstrosity was within those orbs.

Imagine my disappointment when I see a big furry rabid man, a dude with a pack of cards, the tin man from Oz, and a freaking orange teletubbie step out of the contraptions.

This is what Magneto was gonna use to help his "homo-superior" view?

I wasn't impressed.

But you know us superheroes we have some sort of complex that just programs right into our head, making us go head to head with these four-

Holy Crap! Who the hell gave the teletubbie fire?!

And suddenly, Magnet Brain's guys didn't seem so unimpressive.

No. Scratch that. They just became friggin terrifying.

But what do you do when you are trained for this situation? You follow what's been batted into your cerebral cortex by a man not much taller than you but has one mean ass punch, especially if bones are coated with metal.

It was just another battle. Another fight we had to throw ourselves in. And we did just that too. We used Grey's preached method teamwork against most of Magneto's lackeys.

Except for one.

At the time, I hadn't noticed the absence of the card thrower. I was too busy helping out Evan or Wanda. But as soon as I was able to step back, I looked over the mutant playground and only saw three of Magnet Brains goons. So naturally I had to let the damn curious cat out of its bag, and went searching for the missing puzzle piece. I mean, I had the means to take him out. One little swipe of my finger and bam- the guy would be out cold. No big deal. So when I think that I've got the element of surprise on the guy, I remove one of my gloves. Piece of cake.

I stepped out from around the corner

And come face to extremely close face with the other guy.

Did I mention extremely close? I half wanted to warn the guy to stay back, but that wouldn't be proper battlefield etiquette, would it?

But even if I wanted to warn the man, I wouldn't have been able to. The guy just held me there, rooted to the spot with nothing more than his eyes. It was unnerving and calming at once. Oddly familiar, if you ask me.

And then, he got closer.

My inner self was cringing at the close proximity of the guy. But still, he held me fast with his gaze. I saw something glowing faintly out of the corner of my eye, but his intense stare down at me wouldn't allow me to look anywhere else but at him.

And I couldn't bring myself to want to, either.

But then, the cocky bastard had the audacity to put the damn object that I couldn't bring myself to acknowledge in my damn hand as he ran off with nothing more than a mock salute to bring me out of my confused state.

And when I looked down, what did I see?

One of those damn playing cards, glowing pink, faintly crackling with explosive energy. If I hadn't seen the pink glow before, I might have stared at it a bit longer, curious. But, thankfully, I had enough of my wits left in me to quickly toss the card away from me before I became one limb short.

Didn't think much about it then.

To tell the truth, I didn't think much about it at all. I went back to the rest of my teammates, having lost sight of the rude card thrower. We fought Magneto and his goons till these huge robots came and started attacking us. And well, I was one of the few to get attacked and caught.

What can I say? It just wasn't my day.

I was captive for a bit before the rest of the gang showed up and helped us escape. Logan was obviously pissed. He kept muttering the name Sabertooth with such hatred and venom that I was actually starting to pity the overgrown rabid animal that Logan had the pleasure of fighting last.

It was only back at the mansion, in the comfort of my own room that I actually got the chance to think about things.

And, well, it did help that I find one slightly familiar playing card onto of my pillow was enough to jump start the thought process.

When I saw the dreadful card laid out on my bed, my eyes narrowed with an unforgiving glint as I stomped my way towards the offending object. I snatching the thing from my pillow case and was about t o crumple it and throw it away, aware that the person who placed it there was probably watching my every movement.

Key word, though? About.

I didn't throw the damn thing away. Why? Because right before I clenched my fist to ruin the life of the card for good, I noticed that the white part of the card, had words on them.

For the life of me, I couldn't remember what the card was, weather it was a number or face card, club or spade. All I know is that the words written on it were familiar.

_See you around, Chere._

Granted, I believe the exact phrase had my real name in place on the endearment, but you know what I mean by it being familiar.

And the events of the fight with the card thrower came crashing to the front of my mind. The way he looked at me was probably him recognizing me. Again my white stripes are hard to dismiss, especially if you seen them before a few years ago. But what I distinctly recall was the unexplainable calm and relation I felt when I held his gaze. Exactly the same reaction I had to a red and black gaze down in Louisiana one muggy summer night.

And I realize I was still as much of an idiot as I was back when I was thirteen. I still ran ahead, thinking I was some one-woman army. At least this time there were no gunshots fired at my head. Just a gigantic metal machine shooting green goo at me.

And as I stood there, card half crinkled in my grasp, I knew that my swamp rat encounters were far from over.

To prove my point, not long after, when we returned to Bayville High after being outed as Mutants, I saw the stupid Cajun smirking as the two bullies I was going to confront were running away in terror.

One plus one equals two. Not that hard to put what happened together.

"What are ya doing here?!" Despite the fact that I knew him, however briefly, before, I still held a grudge against him. I mean, come on-this was one of guys that were responsible for me being stuck in a green goo bubble and held captive at some military experimental base. I wasn't about to just ignore that fact.

"Jus' passin t'rough, _Chere_."

And again with the two finger salute. His dismissal of me.

I was more than pissed off.

So when Kitty caught up to me, I did what any person would naturally proceed to do. I dragged Kitty with me as I followed him.

To the Brotherhood of all places, too. I mean, lets think about this. Theses boys fought Magneto with us. Magneto was the reason why Fred was missing from their merry band of delinquents. Cajun- known now as Gambit- works under Magneto. You see anybody else would have had the sense to outright refuse to comply with Magnet Brain's demands. But no. A card trick and a swish of the curtain and these boys are back at playing Magnetos pawns.

Maybe I'm being a little harsh here. He did threaten to blow up Todd. But still. These boys are known for sticking it to authority figures, but they can't even manage an argument against one of Magneto's lackey's?

After Gambit leaves, Lance with group in tow, jump in his jeep and speed away.

And I get Kitty to faze us through various moving objects going at fast paces in the hope of foiling one of Magneto's plans.

Imagine my disappointment when it was just Pietro in a box.

And lance has to be the over dramatic villain hero and send the police vehicles transporting Pietro into a frenzy, nearly throwing Pietro into a ditch. And it ends like it always does. With me and Kitty saving their asses. At least this time around, we get a pleasant surprise. It's good to know that not every human out there hates us.

Still, no good deed goes unpunished. Kitty and I still wound up with detention.

And as we were sent back to our rooms, fuming (Kitty at me, and me just because) I see another damn card on my pillow. I snatch at it before Kitty has even the chance to see anything and when she's safely away, out of sight, I look over the card and make out the faint scrawl of "_Merci, Cher"_ written over the three of clubs.

And I was certain then, if not before, that my encounters with the red-eyed Cajun were far from over.

It hadn't crossed my mind that they never would.


	3. Chapter 3

I know the story seems to be following closely to the episodes, but I'll eventually get to the AU part. Thanks for your support. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the x-men. I do however own some ideas.  
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Weeks after my unintentional assistance for the Brotherhood Boys, things had settled down. I saw Gambit a few times here and there; I had to go out of my way a few times just to avoid the inevitable meeting with him. But things were slowly going back to normal. I was getting used to the stares and jeers in the hallways. It actually wasn't all that different from what I usually get, just for the way I dress.

People like Jeannie though, she was depressing me.

The sudden change from all- star soccer player to filthy mutant cheat was a hard transition for her. I actually found that I was sorry for her. She had surrounded herself with so many shallow friends-like the bumbling idiot Duncan- that she didn't have anyone outside of the institute to fall back on for support (not including Scotty Boy).

So naturally, when Risty gave me an excuse to get out of the dreary mansion filled with woeful teenage occupants in the mist of angst, I jumped at the opportunity.

And later that night, at the concert- I became the biggest angst ridden case at the institute.

First of all I should have realized that going to a concert meant a crowd. Secondly, I should have known that a band _that_ popular was going to have fans that would get super hyped up and stupid. So it shouldn't have come to any surprise that I would absorb somebody. I shouldn't have been surprised when it was Risty.

But it was the biggest surprise when I did. Only because it wasn't Risty.

It was Mystique.

The unbearable woman just cannot take a hint. I left the friggin Brotherhood because of her. And now, she shoves it in my face that my one real friend outside of the institute walls was a friggin decoy used to spy?

I lost it. Completely.

My mental breakdown cost a pretty penny too, if they were able to pin it on one exact person, that is. The hospital bills I caused, the damage to buildings and roads- lets just say, the Brotherhood aint got nothing on me.

But humor aside, I lost everything.

In those moments of contact with Rist… Mystique, I gained her psyche and memories. And her using me, again, was enough for me to forfeit my hold over the voices constantly echoing in my ears. I was sick and tired of being used, that I just stopped caring and let the most aggressive of the psyches take control- just so I could get away, just for a moment.

I didn't fight back until I knew the current psyche was trying to kill somebody. When I realize that the psyche was trying to make me a murderer, I had to work my way out from the bottom of my self-created pity whole. And let me tell you, that is not an easy climb. Sure getting the act together was easy, just a mental slap to the face to get me out of my funk. But fighting every single person that I had ever absorbed? That was no walk in the park.

It was brutal.

But I somehow worked my way to the forefront of my mind. When I was almost in control, I saw that I was facing Logan. Then I saw that I was trying to kill him. Must be Sabertooth that I'm wearing.

I was trying to buy Logan an opportunity to knock me one in the head, and hopefully get me down for the count when I saw him pause before launching himself into an attack and sniff the air.

Of all the times to actually think, he just had to do it then.

Well, that brief pause was enough for him to pull back those claws and realize it was me. Unfortunately it was also a long enough pause to allow Sabertooth pair up in a tag team with somebody who could handle the Wolverine.

And tag, Magnet Brain's it.

Although, I wont admit it ever, I found it hilarious when Magneto surprised Logan by making him fly. The look on Logan's face was priceless.

I attacked they psyches, trying to regain control over them, but they kept changing and kept wearing me down. It was a heaven sent- albeit painful one- act of mercy when Scott blasted me down. It surprised the psyches when that happened, and before another psyche could take over and pick my form off the ground, Xavier was there.

I don't know if he was close to my physically, but he was just there.

Me? I was too exhausted to even move. I let the Professor take over for me.

When I woke up, I was in the med lab, lying on one of the patient beds. Logan was there at my side.

"Nice seeing ya Stipes."

"Hello ta ya too, Logan"

That's the good thing about Logan. You don't have to say much to him because he understands. I don't know how much, but he understood and didn't need me to explain everything.

I spent a while down there. Kurt came down, shy and ecstatic, at having a sibling. I tried to correct him- that I wasn't really related to him- but he simply didn't acknowledge that part of the conversation. As far as he could tell, he was my brother. And thinking back on the months I've known him here at the institute, as far as I could tell, he was.

Though, I shot that familial bond to hell when I pushed Mystique over the cliff.

I'd like to say that it was an accident, that I was enthused about helping the deceitful woman getting back to her old self again and that it was my overzealousness that accidentally caused the accidental smashing to bits of what was left of her.

I didn't buy that theory in my head, and that sure has hell wasn't going to fly with Kurt. I had single handedly- well, two handedly- ruined Kurt's chance of reconnecting with his birth mother. I could say that I did it for his own good, so he wouldn't be hurt, but the lies weren't rolling off my tongue.

I did it because I wanted revenge.

I pushed her because I hated her.

I murdered her because I wanted to.

And its damn hard living with yourself knowing those reasons. And I do regret it. For Kurt. Only for Kurt. For me, I was proud that I put a stop to her abuse.

But for Kurt, I was sorry. I was so, so terribly sorry.

I walked up to Kurt just before the school bell was about to ring, and tried to talk to him. He just brushed me off and said we'd talk later.

He walked ahead of me, probably because it was unbearable to be close to me after the crime I committed against him. But that physical distance was all that was needed for my day go from crappy- to un-freaking-believable. And not for the better.

I shamefully walked slow, to give Kurt his distance when I was grabbed and forcefully pulled into the side alley.

"Bonjour, Anna."

My heart skipped a beat. And terror flooded my system for a minute, before the realization hit me. Magneto was gone. This was Just Gambit. I could handle that.

"Let mah go, you stupid Cajun!"

"_Desole Chere_,_ mais_ I need y' help." And that's all that he gave me before I herd a short click and a green vapor emitted from the end of his bo staff, taking my consciousness.

The first thing I heard when I came to was his annoyingly smooth voice.

"Aw, _chere_, I see y' awake."

"Really, ya figure that out all bah ya-self?"

His only reply was a chuckle. And had I been a morning person, I could have started to devise an escape plan then and there. As it is, I am _not_ a morning person. Never will be. So instead of focusing on the problem at hand, I found myself focused on what an incredible laugh he had. I mean, damn. The boy had a laugh that made you want to smile and bask in the warm sound.

Luckily, I still had enough wit in me to realize that that thought direction wasn't going to get me out of this boxcar and away from Gambit. I glanced at my surroundings and saw nothing that would be helpful…

Until I realized how close Gambit was to the open door. One little push. That's all it would probably need to force him through and out of the car. With the hope of escape visible, I leapt at him.

And fell face first on the floor.

And that's when I realized the Cajun was smart enough to bind my legs and arms together.

Gambit just smiled and chuckled at me, amused at my failure. He strutted over to me and placed me back against the wooden crates.

"What's this all about, Swamp Rat?"

Again with the beautiful laughter. "Y' look like you could use a vacation. Y' had quite de pas' few weeks, haven't y'."

My eyes narrowed as they met his.

"Whats the real reason."

"Dat is de real reason."

Wait for it…

"And in return, If y' could help me out as a favor with a small problem."

And there it is!

"Ah knew it! There is an ulterior motive. And wha' would be this 'small problem' ah owe ya?"

Gambit just stared at me for a moment, probably debating how much he had to tell me. By the defeated sigh he just let out, I knew it was something I really didn't want to get mixed up again.

"I need y' help getting' _moi pere._"

"Huh? Lahke from an airport or somethin'?"

"_Non_."

"Ah'm not followin what ya mean."

"M' pere was taken hostage by a rival guild and I need y' t' help me."

And then a memory of the time I was in New Orleans with Irene came back in a flash_. "Remy, de assassins aint going to be happy that y' almost blew up Julien."_ The memory sunk in for a moment before I turned my gaze back toward Gambit.

He was watching me closely, observing any signs that I was willing falling into his trap.

"So let me get this straight. Ya kidnapped me to get ya kidnapped dad."

"_Oui_."

"…From a guild of Assassins."

I think the boy was in shock. He almost fell off his crate when I announced that I knew who we were going up against. The only thing he was capable of in reply at the time was a nod of his head.

I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to laugh at how crazy he was- how crazy he thought I was. But I knew what I had to do.

I let out a long breath. "If ah get shot this time, ah'm gonna sick Wolverine on ya."

He gave me a smile then, one of those real ones. Not one of those damn smirks he has on his lips all those times I've seen him while fighting. And I gotta admit, it was a great sight. He moved to my side and charged the fibers of the rope so that they dropped from my wrists and ankles.

And I socked him one in the stomach.

Took him by surprise. He fell backwards on the floor, and I felt damn proud.

"Wha' the hell was dat for?"

I raised an eyebrow at him and put hand on my hip. "Next time, ya might try asking a gal for their help."


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks, guys for the positive reviews and feedback. I really do appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except ideas.  
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After reaching our agreement, the remainder of the train ride passed rather smoothly. Remy and I had reached an understanding of each other, an almost sort of friendship for the duration of my "vacation". Neither of us wanted to approach the subject of what's to come of our fragile symbolism of friendship after we rescue his dad, so we did what seemed the mostly un-awkward alternative.

We played cards.

He spent a whole hour teaching me the basics of poker, before we began playing for score. It took me twelve and a half games to realize that damn swamp rat cheated each and every game.

That didn't end to well for his cards.

Lets just say, after the cocky Cajun just smirked in response to my realization, I leaned forward, real close to Gambit, a smirk on my own lips.

And before he knew what hit him, I snatched his cards right out of his hands and threw them out the boxcar door.

I turned around, back to Remy, and was able to catch a glimpse of that utter shock on his face before he bolted towards the door.

I didn't bather to contain my glee as I watched him stare after the last remains of his precious cards flutter out of sight.

"Aw, Ah'm sorry. Were those of some importance to ya, Cajun?"

Remy turned to me and his face looked a cross between pain, anger and shock. I think shock was the winning emotion, but it was hard to tell. He looked pretty heart broken.

"_Chere_! Y' just last m' _mon_ lady luck- an' dose were m' lucky cards t'!"

"Well, I guess ya should of thought of that before you cheated with me."

There was a heartbeat of silence before Remy just gave me this look, one that holds the promise of sin and pleasure, after I finished my sentence.

This time, he was up close and personal, invading what exceeded personal space.

"_Chere_," he said in a low husky tone, "I'd cheat wit' y' anytime."

And just like that, things got extremely awkward. How was I supposed to react to that? I mean, what would you do if you had an extremely attractive- alright- sexy as hell man get so intimately close to you? When people usually kept their distance?

Mutation be damned at the moment. I don't even think I remembered why I couldn't get this close to people in the first place. I as sure as hell didn't remember how to breathe. I was acutely aware of how close his lips were to my neck- the soft exhale of his breath blew across my collar bone- was helpless in suppressing the shiver that worked its icy fingers up and down my spine.

Remy pulled his head back, away from me, a knowing smirk shamelessly mocking me.

The bastard was toying with me.

Needless to say, I didn't take that too well either, and I, for lack of better description, snapped. I shoved him so hard that he almost fell out of the car. I reached behind him and pulled out his bow staff that was hidden within one of the compartments of his trench coat. With a soft 'clink' the staff extended to its full length as I pushed his own weapon against his fingers in what I hoped was a painful crunch.

"Ah do not appreciate you toying with me, _Gambit_."

I'm not gonna lie. My words came out in little more than a hiss. I was just that angry that he could toy with my emotions so easily. I had worked up years of denying myself even the fraction of the hope of physical, skin to skin contact, and Remy takes just one step too close; just one word so… so… so promising from his lips, and those years of building restraint come shattering around me. As if my mental walls were nothing more than bits of dirt and sand.

That… and I just wanted to take out my frustration on him. Better him than me, right?

"What, _petit_? Y' can' handle 't?" he just laughs as I glare at him. I pressed the metal rod against his fingers harder, hoping, just hoping that somehow I can remove that damn smirk off his face.

Well, I did get a reaction out of him. It just wasn't fear. He responded to the added pressure on his fingers with charging the boxcar- a challenging dare in those black and red eyes.

"Rogue, eit'er y' play nice, o' we bot' are gonna b' in quite a mess."

Frankly, I'm not fond of the prospect of dying.

I gave one final shove on the staff before I grab him by his trench coat lapels and haul his arse back inside.

Smirking, he dusts off his coat. "_Merci_, _cheri_, _pour votre generosite_."

~)(~

It wasn't long after that that we arrived in the good ole town of New Orleans. The atmosphere of the city overwhelmed me. It wasn't long before I was eagerly taking in the sights and sounds and smells of the place. Watching the people prance through the streets, having the times of their lives was enjoyable to watch. I was so caught up in the moment of the party, that I didn't notice that Remy had dragged me by the hand to a small dinner until he pulled me through the door.

And what a quaint little place it was.

It reeked of stale cigarette smoke mingled with the aroma of strong liquor. But damn if it wasn't appealing. Beyond the smell of all the smoke and alcohol, was the smell of mouth watering southern cooking.

I believe I had to swipe my mouth with the back of my glove to remove the drool that was forming.

"Hungry, _Chere_?"

At that moment, a waitress passed in front of me, platter full of steaming heaven on her tray. If it wasn't for Remy's hand on my arm, I might have possibly ran and football tackled that waitress for whatever that food was.

I think it is safe to say that Remy got an answer to his question.

He quickly pulled me behind him as he led the way to an open table for two. We sat there for a few seconds before a waitress came by. Remy, being the arrogant bastard that he was, ordered for both of us, before I had the chance to ask what they had to drink.

I was about to give him a piece of my mind, when I felt watched. I paused in smacking Remy upside his head and instead turned to look behind me.

Nobody directly behind me was paying me too much attention, I began to look from left and right, when Remy took him hand in his and tugged me back down in the seat.

"Cher, y' need to calm down."

"Somebody's watchin' me."

"I know."

Silence.

Somebody was eyeing me, and he didn't explain what he supposedly 'knew".

I remembered what I was doing earlier before I got distracted. I slapped him upside his damn head.

Before I got bite his head off, I was quickly reminded of where we were at when the waitress came by with our food. She set them down and asked if we- or rather Remy- needed anything else. I angrily grabbed my spoon and dug into the gumbo as he gave her that promise of a smile and replied no.

I hissed at Remy as soon as the girl had left.

"Who the hell is watchin' me?"

"Julien."

"Who?"

Remy's eyes left mine to briefly glance somewhere behind my shoulder. I knew that if I were to go on instinct and look behind me, I'd expose the both of us.

"Relax _cher_."

"Ya try relaxin' with some dirty swamp rat watching you constantly."

Remy just laughed outright. Goodness, if I could just bottle that sound and sell it…

Oh right, back to the point at hand. I am an angry fierce Rogue. Maybe I should growl, just to make sure we're clear on that point. Logan'll be proud.

"Y' didn' seem t' mind b'fore." He said after his burst of laughter had quieted.

Confused, I forfeit my plan to make Logan proud.

"What are ya talking about, Cajun."

And then the impossible happened.

The Cajun's eyes grew a smidgen wider and his smirk vanished.

Yep that's right, Mr. LeBeau, Lady-Killer Extraordinaire, lost his composure.

"I- I thought dat- dat y' knew…"

"Spit it out already, Cajun."

"_Chere_, y' know that I've been keeping m' _yeux_ on y' fo' a while now, non?"

When I looked at him, I saw him visibly gulp. I put down my spoon, and tried to stop myself from loosing my composure. Deep breathes. Count to three and breathe again…

Oh fuck it.

"Ya've been WHAT?!?"

"_Chere_…"

Is he?… no….

"…please sit back down, _chere_."

My God. The Cajun _**is**_ pleading…

Crap. I'm causing a scene. I'm making the Swamp Rat look like a bastard.

What. A. Shame.

"Ya- Ya- Damn Swamp Rat!!"

Before he could stop me, I hurriedly shoved my way out into the streets and found a secluded place to hide.

I leaned against the alley wall, listening to the sound of the crowd many streets away, calming down.

2 minutes and 12 seconds is what it took before it hit me and I started to laugh my arse off.

I, the x-man Rogue, made Remy LeBeau sweat!

What a great night it's been.

"What's a _belle femme_ like y' doin' hangin' aroun' LeBeau?"

_Merde_. _Merde_- Double _Merde_! I've heard that Cajun voice before.

"M' name is Julien."

I looked up into the face of Blondie Boy- Julien- the same kid that tried his hand at blowing my head off with a gun five years ago.

Now, I was feeling stupid. I should have stayed with Remy. Oh god, I wanted Remy. He would protect me.

And then I realized what I was thinking.

What the heck is wrong with me? I wanted _Remy_? Damn, I felt stupid.

"Look, Blon- Julien. Ah'm not interested."

Julien decided that what I thought was a perfectly polite dismissal to his come on was in fact a "oh baby, woo with ya sexy accent like Ah'm some bimbo that can't tell tha difference between real French and Cajun". He leaned close to me, forcing my back to press against the building behind me.

"C'mon _amoureux_, 'm better dan dat rat will ev'r be."

I could smell the faint trace of alcohol on his breath as he pressed closer to me. I'm pretty sure that if somebody were to glance in our direction and see us, they'd think we'd be lovers.

"Ah'm sure ya are, but Ah'm not interested. So get off of me. Now."

He didn't like the fact that a girl was saying no to him. I could tell that by the way he clenched his jaw every time I refused him. I put my hands up to push him away when he grabbed hold of my left wrist.

I was terrified. I knew this guy had a gun on him. I knew he had friends that had guns on them. But right now, he was touching me and I felt helpless.

"Let m' show y' what y' missin' ou' on, _amoureux_."

He slowly switched my wrist to his right hand as his left hand moved to grip my hip. I wanted to scream at him, but I couldn't find the words. I couldn't bring my self to say them. His hand traveled up my ribcage, taunting me… teasing me… I closed my eyes, hoping that maybe if I shut them, I could will him away…

"Get y'r hands off o' her."

Remy's voice was pure hate and anger. And it was the most blessed thing I had ever heard. And I found myself breathing suddenly. I hadn't realized I was holding it to begin with.

Julien hand didn't remove itself as quickly as I would have like. Probably not as fast as Remy would have liked, either. His hand caressed my ribcage again, now moving back towards my hip.

"I said off o' her."

I turned my eyes to Remy; he looked as angry as he sounded. No. Scratch that. He looked even angrier. I looked at those eyes and saw that they were burning- actually glowing with such hate that I was surprised that Julien hadn't just blown up yet. Remy glanced to me and when his eyes met my wide ones, I could swear I saw his eyes soften on me.

At least they did before I felt Julien's hand on my hip squeeze a bit as his other hand, surprisingly gloved, stroked the side of my.

"Y' don' see her protestin' do y'?"

I turned my head back to Julien and opened my mouth to give the protest, when his hand came back towards my face. I tried to move away from the approaching limb, but ended up knocking my head against the brick wall behind me rather suddenly.

Julien just chuckled at my behavior as he played with one of my white strands.

I closed my eyes again, hoping that just somehow he'd get the point and realize I wanted him away from me.

"What an unusual hair, _non_? It's not ev'ry day y' see a style like dis." His grip on my hip became a painful one. "I haven' seen hair like dis in _cinq ans_."

I heard the hiss of Remy's power before I even saw his hands clench and emit their glow.

I drew in a shaky breath before I willed my eyes to open. I placed my hand over Julien's forcing his taunting gaze from Remy to mine.

I removed his hand from me and kneed him in the groin. He bent over, heaving heavily.

Probably chocking from the fact that I just shoved his testicles up into his throat. What a pity.

"When a gal tells ya she ain't interested, back the fuck off." I turned away from the poor excuse of flesh to head toward Remy.

Before I could get a step away, Julien tackled me and we both fell hard on the pavement. I felt the brunt of the impact since I was underneath him. He was in the process of trying to choke me when Remy came out of nowhere and grabbed Julien by his lapels and socked him one in the face.

It was a pretty good hit, I'd say. It was the type of punch that would knock a guy out. But this was an assassin we were dealing with.

Julien's head flew back from the contact, but he remained conscious enough to get up off of me to fight Remy.

I hurriedly tried to pull of my gloves while trying to reacquaint myself with the ability to breath. After the fifth tug, the gloves gave and I was able to pull them off. I found my footing and reached where Julien had Remy in a choke hold. I braced myself for the onslaught of memories and the reached out and grabbed Julien's face.

His hold on Remy, immediately slackened, dropping Remy to the ground. Soon after Julien was on his knees, paralyzed to do anything. His body slackened into unconsciousness as he fell face forward to the pavement.

And then I threw up.

Hmmm… I hadn't realized I'd eaten that much.

Remy picked himself up and walked over to my heaving form next to the dumpster.

After my stomach had decided that it had removed everything, I pressed my face against the cool brick.

"We need t' get out o' here, Anna."

I nodded, not able to speak just yet. I let Remy lead me away from the retched alleyway.

He led the way to an empty warehouse, not far off the streets, but still quiet. I dropped onto a box, while Remy stood, still staring at me.

The man looked like he was about to explode.

"What?"

His eyes flashed crimson before the muscles in his jaw tightened. "Did y' get any information?"

"That's not what ya want to ask is it?"

It took the silence of three heartbeats before he began shouting.

"How could y' let 'im touch y'?! "

Well, I that's the only thing I heard. His other shouts were too fast and in French for me to comprehend.

Now, when some people get yelled at, they shrink back and let the person get it out and calm down some.

I'm not one of those people. I shout back

"It's not lahke ah wanted him to!"

"Y' didn' look t' upset abou' 't!"

"Ah didn't look upset?! My God, look at me! Ah covered head to freakin' toe in clothes for people! Every single freakin' day Ah put on those extra layers so that I can be safe for people to be near! And ya know what they do? They don't come near me. Do ya understand what it's like? To want to be hugged or patted on the back, or anything, but people refuse to even come near ya?"

"But y' always tell people to be careful…"

"Ah tell people to be careful if there is a chance that they could get hurt. Ah don't tell them, 'stay the fuck away from me or Ah will zap you'. Ah want to be touched, Remy. Ah want to be hugged by mah best friend; be able to console mah brother when he's hurt. But if Ah go to them, they instantly back away from me, as if Ah'm attackin them. "

Remy remained still, listening to what I was admitting. I looked at the ground, ashamed myself.

"Ah told Julien to back off. Blondie doesn't know when to take a hint. But he touched me. Touched me, without fear, without hesitation. Sure it was probably to piss ya off, but I've been denied contact for too long- I couldn't just give it up so quickly."

I didn't even hear him move.

His hand took my chin and forced my eyes to meet his.

He didn't look angry anymore. In fact, he looked down right apologetic.

"What now?" I asked, defeated. Hell, I just admitted that I wanted physical contact. Kinda hard to jump right back into the hard as nails façade so soon.

I jumped in surprise when I felt his arms wrap around me. I stiffened.

"_Je suis desole. Je n'ai jamais pense_…" he said softly.

"Remy, I don't have my glove-"

He tightened his arms around me. Hesitantly I raised my arms up around him.

I hugged him back, finally letting go of the voice in my ear warning my about my hand and just hugged. A few more seconds passed when I finally just rested my head against him.

"Thank ya, Remy."

What a great guy.

I felt him smirk before I heard him speak. "Does dis mean y' forgive me for spyin on y'?"

Bastard.

…………………………………………………………………….  
A/N: Did I explain Rogue's reason well enough?  
Usually I read story's that just make her scared of contact completely, but I don't find her the type of person to just be scared of contact. Skin to skin, yeah, but not contact where she knows she's covered and safe for others to interact with. I hope I got my point across, but if I didn't please let me know so I can try to work it out better or phrase it better so it's clearer. Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the idea of the plot.  
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"C'mon, _cherie_! I said _desole_!"

"Ya think sorry is an excuse for ya peekin' through my windows at night?!"

"I didn' do all _mon_ peekin' at night. Sometimes in the morning o' afternoon-"

Remy quickly shut up as the look I was glaring at him with clearly told him that the new information was _not_ helping his case. He had finally gotten the message that I did not want to talk about it anymore.

"…Annnnaaaaaa"

"Just drive the damn boat, Gambit!"

God, the infuriating rodent! Ugh. As soon as I' able, I'm going to microwave a bag of popcorn, go tell Wolverine what the swamp rat has done, and watch the Cajun's murder with glee.

Remy, after maneuvering around the underwater explosives, got us to the small dock in front of Blood Moon Bayou. The Assassin mansion looked rather ominous. The white paint on the pillars and the sides were chipped, the porch had uneven stairs. I'm not quite sure, but the fact that there were guards at the front door and at the balcony might have had something to do with the bad vibe that I was getting from the place. But, hey, who was I to back down from a fight?

I just hope Blondie Boy isn't up and around here yet.

Remy got out of the boat before I did. He looked around, to make sure we weren't noticed, before turning around to help me.

Needless to say, I was still a bit miffed about the whole watching me thing. So I slapped his offered appendage away from me.

"I don't need ya help."

I attempted to climb out, but was failing miserably. It was easier to get into the damn thing than it was getting out. Every time I attempted to remove my self from the boat, I had this feeling that I was going to end up swimming with the swamp gators.

"We don' have de time fo' dis, Anna."

I scowled at him.

"Don't call me that."

I tried again. I got a leg up on the deck before the boat began to shake and sway under my remaining leg.

Suddenly, I felt as if I was being lifted.

I looked down and saw that there were two unfamiliar arms protruding out from my armpits.

"Dere. Now, we can be on our way."

"I coulda gotten up by mahself."

Remy shifted behind me so he could see my face.

" Anna, are y' poutin'?"

"No! Ah don't pout! And it's Rogue- Not Anna!"

"Y' are poutin."

"Ah am not!"

"y' are."

I shoved myself out of his arms and turned around to glare at him for all my worth, hoping that some divine punishment would strike him.

…

Nothing.

Whatever Gods are out there must hate me because he's still standing there with that irritating, melt worthy smirk is still firmly planted on his face. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.

"Ah hate you."

Remy laughed at me, most pleased with himself. He glanced quickly to the mansion and then grabbed my hand, dragging me closer to the assassins' headquarters.

"Non, I don' think y' hate me."

We were hiding behind one of the thick old trees that were at the side of the house.

"Yeah Ah do."

He turned to look at me. "Den why are y' still here?"

"Because."

He gave me a pointed look, daring me to explain it farther than that.

"Because Ah already said Ah'd help ya."

I hate defeat.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a person in the window next to us. I quickly dropped to the ground, grabbing Remy along with me.

"Oof! Damn Swamp Rat. Ya're heavier than you look."

"All muscle, _chere_." And he looked down at me and then I realized the how exactly we were hiding.

With him lying partially on top of me.

Awkward.

"If y' wanted me, Anna, all y' had t' do was ask."

Damn that smirk to hell.

"Get ya head out of the sewer."

"Y're de one who pulled _moi _on top o' y'."

"Ah did not! Ah was makin' sure we weren't gonna get caught!"

"An' de fact dat we were b'hind the tree- away from sight- didn' occur t' y'?"

"There was a person in that window!"

"I didn' see anybody."

"That's cause ya were looking at me!"

His smirked broadened. "Can y' hones'ly blame _moi_?"

"AH! Just get off!"

I shoved him forcefully off of me, but he was startled and reached down to steady himself and made contact with my exposed face.

Arguing on the boat. The impact of the hug. Seeing Julien with his hands on me. Teaching me poker. Waiting for me to wake up. Watching the blue boy keep his distance. A call from home. Seeing my tears. Spying for Magneto. Listening to me and Kitty follow him. Fighting the X-men. Recognition at the dock. Going to Bayville with the hope of finding her. More Research. Stealing. Five years of searching with nothing but two names: Irene and Anna. Mississippian accent calling out "Swamp Rat". Anna. Emerald eyes. Running and pulling. Gun Shots. Julien raising his fist. Julien knocked to the ground. Lapin and Etienne needing help. Belladonna calling about a trap...

Memories.

All these memories that I cant remember, but I can see and feel.

Memories that aren't mine.

Oh right, powers.

My powers.

His memories.

Wait… _His_ memories.

I push the limp Cajun body off of me completely. As soon as he waked up-

"Ow. What de- Anna?"

Speak of the devil.

I grabbed the lapels of his coat and brought his face close to mine.

"Five years?! Five frickin' years?!! How dare ya!"

Remy just stared at me with utter confusion.

"I don' know what y'-"

I shoved him back towards the ground. He let out a slight groan as his head connected with the earth.

"Ya've been watchin' me for five years?! Ya researched me? May life, mah family?! Ya had no right!"

He got real quiet then.

He wasn't even going to deny it.

"Anna-"

"Don't speak to me. I'm going home."

"Anna- don' go. Let m' explain."

"Don't bother. Good luck with the rescue. Have a nice life."

"Anna-"

I ignored him and kept walking. I wasn't sure where I was heading, I didn't care either really. I just needed to sort out my thoughts. His thoughts. Our thoughts.

~)(~

Oh god. This is so confusing.

"Damn it all ta hell!"

Yeah, yelling that out loud did help. Remy's thoughts were so confusing. I stood looking over the swamp for five minutes trying to sort it all out. His memories and thoughts were confusing. But I didn't understand why he brought me here. Yeah- to save his father, but there was another reason. I knew there was one. I just can figure it out.

To play out his memories and see them were easy enough.

Some girl gave him a heads up that those two boys were in trouble. He found us got us away from Julien and his gun wielding crew. Then over the course of five years, he searched for me, and then found me. Well, found that I disappeared to New York. Then, When Magnet Brain came knocking on his door, looking for recruits to go to Bayville, he jumped at the possibility. He thought that in his spare time, he could snoop around, looking for the white-striped, green-eyed Anna he met.

Actually, if I dismissed the whole, invasion of privacy, and serious stalking on his part, it was kinda flattering.

Oh, who was I kiddin'? It's like a freaking fairy tell story. My "Prince Charming" -come to rescue me.

I couldn't keep the laughter from echoing across the lake. I can just picture it now, Prince Remy, on his gallant steed.

"What's so funny, _chere_?"

I whirled around to see a blond woman standing behind me, curious expression in her eyes.

To simply put it, she was stunning. Brilliant blue eyes. Perfectly curled blonde hair….

She was everything I wasn't.

Everything I couldn't be.

It's shallow of me, but it was right then I decided to hate her.

She was like the beach blond version of Jean.

"Who are ya?"

She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at me. "Dat's what I'm suppose' t' ask y', seein' as y' on m' property."

"Sorry. I'll just be going." Something was off about this woman. I had the feeling that I knew her face…

"Not so fast now, _chere_."

I stopped in mid step. I looked over my shoulder to see she had a small handheld gun in her hand. Aimed at me.

Ah! That's why she's familiar.

She's the pretty, female version of Julien.

Boy did I feel stupid.

"Why are y' on m' property?"

"Why should ah tell ya?"

Her mouth curved into an amused smile. It was eerily creepy.

She looked like Julien.

I heard a slight explosion come from the mansion. I recognized it as Remy's power. I glanced through the windows, seeing if he was okay, until I realized what I was doing. I quickly re-directed my gaze to the woman. Her cruel smile had somehow changed from cruel and amused, to just plain amused.

"So y're with Remy, non?"

"Ah am _not_ with the swamp rat." I think I may have said that a bit harshly, because I'm pretty sure it came out as a hiss…

She surprised me by laughing. And I mean, out-right laughing. She lowered the gun and hid it away again.

"_Je m'appelle Belladonna_."

Belladonna- the girl who called Remy about the trap five years ago.

And since she's related to Julien, that would also make her Belladonna, the assassin.

"_Et_ y' are?"

"Rogue."

Well, I couldn't not answer her. She had a freaking gun on her.

"I assume y're here t' help Remy get his _pere_ back, non."

Silence.

"If y' are, I suspect y' should go help him."

"Ya wont shoot me in the back?"

She laughed again.

I didn't see what was so funny.

Of course, if I had the gun, and she weaponless, I think I could afford to laugh in the situation too…

"_Fille_, I'm de one dat contacted de t'ieves guild dat we had de King o' T'ieves."

With that said, she sauntered off out of sight.

So, now I could either keep on my way- or go help the damn swamp rat.

Damn conscious.

I ran back to the mansion as fast as I could, knocked out the guards who were too surprised to get their guns up in time. I saw two shadows disappear into a hallway and followed them.

Jackpot. I pulled off my gloves and stuck them silently into my pockets.

"Well, well. This must be father- son day. Get back in dere!"

The man had barely gotten his order out before I placed my hands on him and the gunman's neck.

And down they went. Like a sack of potatoes.

And then I had to fight down the urge to throw up again.

Remy just stared at me in shock.

"Well are ya just gonna stand there, or are we gonna get the heck out of here?"

The man behind him was looking at me and then the bodies on the ground in front of me.

"Remy… Who de hell is dis?"

"Jean-Luc, dis is Anna."

I glared at him.

"How many times do Ah have to tell ya? It's Rogue, Swamp Rat."

"Dis _femme_ is Anna?" I looked at Jean-Luc. He was now studying me closely.

It was irritating.

"Fine. If y'all want ta stay here, go right on ahead. Ah'm outta here."

I turned around and pulled out my gloves, heading back the way I came from. I peered around the corner.

As I was about to step out, Remy yanked me back behind the wall. Good thing too, cause I would have been toast. Stupid Assassins always having to try to friggin kill people.

"Careful dere, _chere_."

"Oh shut it Remy. Ah'm not exactly happy with ya right now."

Jean-Luc laughed at that.

I turned around to give him a glare too, but Remy beat me too it. Damn him.

I heard shouting come from a nearby hallway. My only option left was to call up the memories of the guys I absorbed.

After a few moments, I yet again fought the urge to throw up.

But now I knew the way out. Yippee.

"Follow me."

I took off through a doorway and found my way through some empty rooms until I finally reached a back door and was outside the mansion. I looked behind me to see that Remy and his dad were out here with me.

"So…. Dat was fun, non?"

I was about to pitch in my two cents about this whole ordeal, when suddenly bullets were flying past my head.

Again.

"Damn it! Why is it every time Ah'm near ya, people with guns are chasing me?!"

We ran. We ran as fast as we could back toward the dock where are dinky little boat was at.

Except now, in place of our dinky little boat, there was a nicer, larger, safer one.

The three of us ran across the horizontal planks of wood toward the boat when suddenly the wooden post to the right of me exploded into splinters.

I turned around and glared at the approaching assassins.

"Ya just gonna shoot somebody in the back?! Ya filthy cowards!"

I felt the sudden urge to run back towards the assassin's and drain them dry, when Remy's arms wrapped around my arms and torso, lifting me up off the ground.

"What the hell?! Let me go Remy! Ah'm tired of them shooting at me-"

He didn't let go. Instead, he carried me to the boat and dropped me down, soon following after me, ducking, as bullets whizzed above us.

"Are y' crazy?! Dey'll kill y' before y' took another step."

"So? Ah have Logan's healing ability."

Remy just ignored me and called out to his dad instead.

"Get us ou' o' here Jean-Luc."

The boat's engine hummed to life.

At least I'm done here and can go back home.

Bam!

"What the hell was that?"

Remy peeked his head above the boat side.

"It appears dat dey have foun' dey're own boat and are now chasin' us, _chere_."

I scooted over next to him and peeked my head over the boat side, too.

"Huh. Angry little guys aren't they."

As if hearing my comment, the water next to us sprayed from the bullets impacting it.

Remy pulled me down so I wouldn't wind up with a bullet between the eyes.

"Was it just me, or did it seem as if they're boat was coming closer."

We were about twenty to thirty yards away from the opposite edge of the water when the assassin filled boat was close.

"What de hell is dat?!"

I looked to Jean-Luc to see what else could possible go wrong when a familiar sight greeted me.

"That, Jean-Luc, would be mah family."

The Black Bird landed in the small clearing and as soon as it opened, I saw Logan walk out, claws exposed. It was a sight of relief.

Then, to my surprise, Kurt walked out after him, looking blue and worried.

He looked out and saw me on the boat. His face lit up with relief.

"Rogue!"

Suddenly, I see a guy out of the corner of my eye, I had barley enough time to register that it wasn't Remy or Jean-Luc before I was tackled and pushed over the edge of the boat.

The water was disgusting.

If I wasn't already a mutant, I could probably blame it on the water. It was just-eww.

I began swimming when I heard a slash and saw Remy and Jean-Luc enter the water headfirst.

"Rogue! Look out!"

I looked back at Kurt to see panic stricken when I heard a growl.

There was a mutant alligator looking at me like I was its next meal.

Thankfully, Kurt teleported to me before I could utter a girlish scream.

Whew that was a close call. I don't think I could have lived up to that.

I looked back to see that Cyclops and Storm had come with Logan and Kurt. And no Jean.

Yippee!

I saw Jean-Luc climb out, without tooth marks and intact.

But where the heck was Remy?

I looked back at the water.

Remy was looking rather isolated with a boat circling him. All a sudden, his hand struck out at the boat, touching in and the next thing there is, the boat is lit up like a Christmas tree. I saw the only occupant willingly leap into the water.

The assassin knew he was outnumbered and without a gun and began swimming away. Remy on the other hand, was greeted by Logan as soon as he laid a hand on solid ground.

I was tempted to watch- really tempted to watch as Logan ripped him to shreds…

But the Swamp Rat did save me from a bullet hole or two…

Okay, a rather large number of bullet holes.

"Logan. Don't kill the damn Cajun."

Logan glanced my way with a sad, hurt expression on his face. Without any words, just a growl, Logan dropped Remy on his arse and walked past me.

"Ya have a lot of explain to do, Stripes."

"Yeah ,yeah. Ah know."

I walked over to Remy.

He smiled at me. "Rogue."

"Don't. Ah don't want to here any more of ya're excuses or lies. Stop stalking me and leave me alone, ya hear?"

" 'M sorry. I jus' needed y' help-"

"- with ya're dad. Yeah, but that's not all, is it. I don't know what ya're playing at Remy, but make sure ya deal me out of it."

I turned away from him and walked towards my family when I felt his hand capture mine.

"I'm afraid, I can' do dat, _chere_." He said quietly so only I could hear. I turned around to demand what the hell that meant, when suddenly his mouth was on mine.

It was a brief kiss, yes, but not I the least bit shy or innocent.

It was stating a fact.

That he could physically touch me.

And I wasn't the only one who noticed.

I heard Logan growl, and his claws extend, and heard Kurt bamph next to me.

And then I was aware of the fact that the rescuing X-men surrounded me.

Remy's eyes never left mine.

And that smirk never left his face.

"See y' around, Anna."

That phrase. That same phrase he said to me the last time I was in New Orleans. He kept his threat then- and he wasn't about to break it now. He turned around to walk to where his father was, who was also staring at me, but with a knowing smirk.

Me? Well, I was glaring so hard at the back of Remy's head that I didn't even noticed that my hands were bruising- or that I was crumpling something in my hand.

Kurt however, did notice the sound of crinkling coming from my fist and saw a smooth surface protruding out.

"Rogue?"

I removed my glare from Remy's head to look at my brother. I followed his gaze to my fist. Unclenching it, I saw what it was and just stared at it.

Kurt gently removed it from my grasp and looked it over.

"What does this mean?"

"Hell if Ah know." I turn to Logan. "Can we go home now, please?"

I was mentally and physically exhausted. And it showed too, because Logan didn't even put up a fight about what the hell was going on.

I slumped into one of the open seats on the Black Bird, ready to enjoy some peace and quiet.

Scott was the one who just had to break the quiet. Couldn't keep his damn thoughts to himself.

"So… Anna?"

"Breathe a word ta anyone and ya will find yourself a newly made female. Got it?" I glared at him so hard, that he actually cowered away from me.

"It's Rogue, got that?"

Scott just nodded. Kurt glanced from me to Scott then back to me, wondering if he was possibly going to have to stop me from murdering Scotty Boy. Storm just sighed, and well, Logan just laughed.

I turned away from them all to stare at the window until I saw something outside.

Remy was standing out there, staring at the jet- or rather, he was staring at me.

Our eyes locked and his reply to my glare was an egotistical smirk. Then he slowly became a spec as we went up in the air.

It had been one hell of a day, and I was glad to be going home.

~)(~

"Oh my god! That is, like, totally romantic!"

"Kitty, it was not romantic. It was a low, deceptive lying stunt to kidnap me and then coerce me to help him."

"But he could have gotten Jean- she would have helped him."

"No, she would have told the professor and asked what he would think about it."

"Well, I still think its romantic. I mean, he like came and rescued you from here. And then he like inadvertently helped your problems with Kurt- who was like so worried about you when you hadn't come back from school. You are so lucky! You have your own Prince Charming!"

"Ha! Gambit- a prince. Yeah. Right."

I looked at the window, and saw the tree he had watched me from. I got out of the bed and drew the curtains closed.

'_Try watchin' me now, Cajun!'_

I turned off my light and got ready for sleep.

I was about to embrace sleep when I was suddenly reminded of Belladonna.

"_Fille, I'm de one dat contacted de t'ieves guild dat we had de King o' T'ieves." _

I bolted up right in bed wide eyed.

If Jean-Luc was the King of Thieves, then that would make his son, Remy – a prince of thieves.

Holy Crap.

What have I gotten myself involved in?

I knew that the swamp rat would be back soon.

Excuse me, I mean Swamp Rat Prince.

………………………………………………………………………………………..  
Hey guys! Sorry that I haven't updated as frequently as the first few chapters. Classes are in full swing now, so I don't have as much free time to devote to this here story, but I will write when I can! Thanks so much for the reviews *_hemhemcoughcoughMaya-chan2007_cough_CourtneySummers_hack_Chellerbelle_coughcough_andalltheanonomysreviewers_coughhacksneeze* I must say, your reviews do strike me with motivation to write.  
...Just incase it isn't clear, the paragraph of fragments (after Remy's hand touches Rogue's face) is the memories flashing from most recent to the very beginning. I figured that the memories in the foremost of his mind would be what had happened recently. Does that make sense?

If you guys see a mistake or think something needs to be clearer- or even have an idea to consider, it would be much appreciated!

Adios!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own the x-men; I just own ideas.  
………………………………………………………………………………..

To say I was weary the next few weeks would have been an understatement.

I was paranoid.

Every morning after I woke up, and every night before I went to bed- I checked out side my window to see if he was there; watching for me. I got distracted at school, too. In the middle of class- I'd think that I'd seen a familiar flash of brown leather whipping around the corner and I'd be on the edge of my seat, ready to take off.

I was scared.

Now, to make myself clear, I was _not_ scared of Remy LeBeau. Heavens, no! Remy LeBeau, I could take care of. I could smack him one on the head, make him sweat, and stutter.

What I was scared of was what Remy LeBeau is capable of.

He had tracked me down and followed me for five years. He'd been watching me. Studying me.

If that isn't creepy, I'm not quite sure what is.

But nothing was ever outside my window. Nothing except for the traitorous tree he used to get a good view into the room.

Maybe I could get Logan to cut it down.

After weeks of looking out my window, terrified I'd see those red and black eyes staring back at me, I decided I was going to take action.

I meandered down the halls of the institute, looking for Logan. I got to the lower levels when I heard his voice.

"Hey, Logan? Can Ah get ya ta cut down-"

I never did get to my request. The grave look on Logan's and Ororo's face stopped me dead in my sentence.

"What is it? What's goin' on?'

"Call the rest of the team. We have a debriefing in the war room in five."

~)(~

"We need to bring Apocalypse down as quickly as possible. If we give him anymore time, he will end up killing and ruling whatever is left alive- mutant or human."

I sat there in shock. It was too soon.

Despite my frantic thought patterns, Scotty-boy was getting into his role as leader.

"How long do we have to get there? Can we enlist the help of the Brotherhood?"

"Logan has already contacted the Brotherhood, and they are on their way here as we speak. We don't have much time so I suggest we leave today."

I listened to the graveness of Ororo's words. I knew what she was thinking. If we don't go, we fail for what we stand for. If we do go, we might fail in stopping Apocalypse.

We've been training no stop for weeks. There was no doubt in my mind that we were as ready as we'd ever be. But looking at these faces, sitting next to me and across from me, I couldn't help but think that after this, I might not see them again.

And by the looks on some of their faces, I knew they were thinking the same thing.

After a pregnant pause, Cyclopes spoke up.

"Team. Go get suited up."

That was all that needed to be said. No one uttered a word as they left to change.

It was absolutely silent in the girls' changing room. It was eerie knowing that I was in the same room with Kitty and not hear her chatting about. Frankly, I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand the heaviness in the room that was on all of our minds.

So I did the reasonable thing. I got dressed as quickly as possible and got the hell out of that room. It was psyching me out.

"Stripes."

I turned around to see that Logan was walking toward me.

What I was curious to was why there was a guy following him.

"Who the hell is that?"

Logan just gave me a glare. However, the guy behind him stepped forward, hand outstretched.

"You must be Rogue. I'm Fury. I'm the head of S.H. I. E.L.D. We've figured a way to take down Apocalypse."

"Ya know how ta take down Apocalypse? Then why in Sam's Hell are ya standing around here for?!"

"Because you are the major component to the plan."

~)(~

"Let me get this straight. Ya want me to absorb a mutant who can turn off powers? An' then use it on Apocalypse?

"Yes?"

"If he can shut off powers, how do ya know he wont turn off mahne?"

Fury didn't even bat an eyelash. "Because he can't control it yet and doesn't stay on long enough."

"Fine. Ah'll absorb the guy and get on with it."

Fury nodded. "Good. We'll be arriving at the apartment complex shortly."

We fell back into a silence. It was awkward. I wasn't with the team. For all I know, they could be battling the big bad Apocalypse already and here I am, waiting in a plane.

I felt like I shouldn't be here, I should be out on the field in some far away place, fighting next to my team mates.

But Logan was here. He believed that Fury's plan would work.

And I trusted Logan.

Suddenly the plane gave a jerk and the door opened up. I looked outside and saw a woman gripping a little boy to the side.

"Ms. Leech. We talked over the phone. I'm Nick Fury."

The woman looked scared, but nodded at Fury. She gripped the kid to her side tighter. Nick, un-perplexed by her nervousness continued to talk.

"This is Rogue." He pointed in my direction. I gave a small nod in acknowledgement. "She needs to borrow Dorian's power when we arrive-"

"What?!"

My little outburst caught everyone's attention.

"Yaw never told me Ah was going at be touching the kid! No! I'm not doing this!"

That slimy bastard! How dare he! I stomped back on the helicopter. Like hell I was going to hurt a child.

I sat down and glared at Logan. "Did ya know what he was askin' of me?!"

"Yeah, I did kid."

I gaped at him. I wanted to start screaming and yelling, but the site of Ms. Leech and Dorian stepping into the Helicopter stopped the outburst in my throat.

I was even more surprised when Dorian's mom struck out her hand to me.

Please, don't do this.

"Why? I am going to absorb your kid, knock him out cold for hours. You don't have to do this."

Please, don't make me do this.

Dorian peered around her leg and looked at me. For the first time I noticed his skin had a slight green tinge to it.

"Miss Rogue?" Oh no. The kid's talking. To me.

"He said you'd help make me a hero."

That when I really looked at him. This little green kid was looking at me with hopeful eyes.

And it was killing me.

I glared at Fury.

Ms. Leech stroked her son's hair affectionately. If having a kid makes you do stupid things, I'm so happy I'm never going to be able to have them. She looked down directly at my eyes. "I didn't want him to do this. But he wants so badly to finally be the hero. Please, don't take his hope away."

I sometimes really hate having compassion and understanding. I should be a rock. Hard and unmoving to the core.

Damn it. Why couldn't I be a rock?

I barely had time to register that I nodded my head before I felt the impact of a body on mine. I looked down and saw that Dorian had flung his arms around me in a hug.

Oh god.

"Thank you miss Rogue."

And he looked up at me, eyes shinning with joy and undaunted happiness.

Who was I to deny him this?

~)(~

"Okay, Rogue, now would be the time to absorb Leech."

I took one last look outside at the chaos. Then I pried Dorian's limbs from around my leg and squatted down to look into his smiling face.

"It's okay Ms. Leech. This is as far as Dorian has to go."

"Dorian, ready to save the lives of millions of people?" He nodded at me. "Okay, kiddo. This is gonna hurt a little bit."

For the millionth time, Dorian just hugged my leg again in response.

I looked at Logan for help.

The damn bastard was laughing at me. Not once during the whole helicopter ride did he help me when the little kid climbed over me. He was enjoying this!

"Dorian. If you want to be a hero, you need to listen to me."

He gave my leg a squeeze before he released me. "Okay, miss Rogue."

Strange creatures, kids. I'll never understand them.

I took off one of my gloves and gently pressed my hand to his cheek.

Nothing happened.

"Kiddo, ah need ya ta turn off ya're power." Dorian just nodded.

A few seconds later, my mutation kicked in.

"_I'm going to be a hero!" _Hugging Miss Rogue. Looking out the window and seeing the Scary guy in the sky. Grabbing Miss Rogue's hand. Miss Rogue talking to Mr. Logan as I tugged on her white stripes. _Miss Rogue is my friend._ Miss Rogue asking me questions. Miss Rouge not yelling at me when I hugged her. Momma talking to the guy with an eye patch. A big helicopter in the street. Being picked on by bullies. The kids calling me names in school. Miss Cathy always scowling at me…

I felt the memories wash over me as I released Dorian. His mother took his unconscious body back to the seats and sat down with him, sleeping in her lap.

Bamf!

"Stripes, Kurt is going to take you in."

I was still reeling back from the memories of Dorian as Kurt grabbed me around the shoulders."

"Ready, Schwester?"

Deep Breath. Big Deep Breath.

_Cough. Cough._

Bad idea when Kurt teleported not five seconds ago. Ugh. I have rotten eggs in my nostrils.

"Yeah Kurt. " _Cough._ "Lets go."

Bamf!

I waved away the blue smoke and inhaled when I thought it was clear.

"Kurt? Kurt, Where are ya?"

"Ugh."

I looked down and saw that Kurt was lying on the ground.

"Kurt! Are ya alright?"

"Ja. Go on ahead. I'm too veak to move right now. I'll catch up vit you later."

I raised my eyebrow at him before I began towards the capsule that Apocalypse was lying in.

_Here we go._

I grasped on to Dorian's power.

And watched as the power beam falter in front of my eyes. I could hear the cease of explosions from outside the temple.

It was working.

This wasn't t' hard. All that hard work fro nothin'.

I made my way to where Apocalypse was lying.

"Ya know, for being the big bad mutant ruler, ya sure don't pack much of a fight."

Before I could get away, the blue thing latched on to my arm. I hit him over the head a few times with my fist. Apparently that shocked him enough for me to be able to pull the walls of his little ship pod down on him. I hurriedly did the same to the other sides, trapping him inside of it.

And out of nowhere, Logan comes flying across the room and jumps on the top of the portal.

I just about lost it.

Scratch that. I did.

I was laughing my arse off at the absurdity of it all. I don't know why, but the way he was hugging the huge ship thingy was freaking hilarious.

"Rogue, get ya're damn act together and turn the damn power back on!"

"Righty-o, Captain!"

Dorian should be damn proud. Not only did he stop Apocalypse's power, but also he used Apocalypse's power to trap him in his own device.

As soon as Apocalypses' ship was sealed, Logan grabbed my arm rushed towards the steps. That's when I noticed something odd.

"Logan?"

He dragged his claws through the control panel. "What?!"

"Um… are the walls getting closer or is it just me?"

…

"Run!"

We ran at the steps and dove down just as the stairs were rising up. A second later, we would have been locked inside with Apocalypse. Logan grabbed my arm and dragged me with him as a bright light grew behind us.

With a flash, the light was gone. I looked behind me.

"Where the heck did he go?"

"I don't care as long as it ain't here. Get Elf, and let's get out of here."

~)(~

A few days later, we found out that Fury had brought a camera man with us on the helicopter and sent the footage to all the news sources he could find.

Then, school became the most awkward thing in the world.

People began _fawning_ over us.

It was disgusting.

Duncan Matthews was groveling at Jean's feat, spewing out praise and adoration.

Good thing Jeanie wizened up, because she ignored his advances and stuck with Scott.

But I guess things went back to normal. The majority of students no longer made snide comments about mutants. Especially about the ones that saved them. It was a small step in Professor's dream, but it was a step never the less.

A few weeks after, Jeannie got reinstated on the Soccer team. Everyone was excited about this and decided that we should all go support her on her big comeback game.

I tried to get out of it.

"Professor, could I please stay here? I'll watch the mansion or something."

"Rogue, we all should be there to show support for one another."

"But-"

"It would be greatly appreciated if you were there."

He turned around in his wheelchair and headed out the door.

Friday Night came around and Scott drove all the high school students to the game. Ororo drove everyone else.

I took one look at the bleachers and paled.

Too many people. Too many accidents waiting to happen. I stood down by the fence.

The girl's soccer team entered the field and the stands roared with cheers.

It was going to be a long, annoying night.

The game started and I saw the professors and x-men watch Jeannie with pride.

And then I looked at Jeannie, her long red hair swaying with her every movement. I saw her glance to the sidelines. And then I saw Scott smile back at her, cheering her on, his ruby red glasses following her back and forth on the field.

Somebody give me shot. I should not be here, watching this sap story sober.

I gave up trying to represent one of the supportive members of the x-men and snuck underneath the bleachers.

Aw. Peace and quiet.

I leaned against the cold metal framework and relaxed.

"She rejected me. She rejected me for Scott Summers. Damn mutants."

I laughed quietly to myself as I heard Duncan complain to Tayrn.

"Hey mutie!"

I turned around to see a guy with a few of his buddies hanging around him. I scowled.

Of course, there had to be something to ruin my peace and quiet.

Was it too much to ask? I mean I freakin saved the world from the Apocalypse and I cant even get some alone time?

What. Gives.?!

"What the hell do ya want!?"

"Ooh, mutie has a temper. I like it."

"Shove it and get lost. Ah aint interested."

"Well, maybe I am."

I would have given the creep a piece of my mind if somebody didn't beat me to it.

"I b'lieve de femme told y' t' get lost."

I froze at the sound of the voice behind me.

_Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap_

"Hey, guys- look what we have here! Another mutie freak."

I needed to get away. Fast.

I decided the safer rout would be to go back the way I came. I just had to get past the punks who were blocking my exit.

Maybe if I just, go around them?

Nope. The main creep's buddies just blocked my path whichever way I went, sneering at me.

Fine then, I'll shove through.

The main creep that talked grabbed me around the waist as I tired to past him. He turned me around to face him.

"Woah, woah, woah, honey. We haven't had-"

I never did get to hear what he hadn't had yet because I punched him in the nose.

"Do **not** touch me, got it?"

It took them a few seconds to realize that a mutie freak had just punched their ringleader when his goons acted.

Why did I always end up in situations like this? Do I have a sign plastered to my forehead reading, "Attack Me"?.

I got in my fighting stance, ready to kick some arse when I was pulled back by my jacket.

Then, all I could see was Remy's broad shouldered back. Not a terrible view, but not the one I really wanted.

I saw the reflection of a magenta glow in the surrounding metals, and heard the collective intake of air.

Maybe I could see something good after all.

I peered around Remy and immensely took delight in the scared faces of the four thugs.

I one of them even peed their pants.

"I sugges' y' leave now."

His voice didn't leave any room for argument. It was laced with threats if they didn't do as asked.

Then I realized that if they left, I'd be alone.

With him.

I pushed past Remy, and hissed a plea into the main creeps ear. "Don't leave me here with him!"

I would have begged, if I had a chance. But I didn't get to. The guy looked at me, terrified, and said. "We are so sorry to bother you, miss" and took off running.

I stared after them, willing them to come back and help me.

"_Chere_."

They weren't coming back. They had abandoned me to my fate.

"Damn cowards!" I yelled after them as their backs faded into the night.

I took a deep breath and turned around to face him.

"Bonjour, _cher_-"

"Don't ya '_chere_' me, Gambit. Ah don't want nothing ta do with ya."

"Is dat de way y' speak t' y' the _homme _dat helps y'?"

"No. It's the way Ah speak to the pedophile that stalked me for five years."

"Pedophile? Now dat's not true, Rogue."

"It is when ya stalk a thirteen year old!"

"I didn' find y' till y' were fo'rteen."

"Like that's much of a difference."

Remy sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "_Cher_, can we talk, _s'il vous plait_?" He took a step towards me.

I automatically took a step back. "Why? We aint got nothing ta say ta each other."

"_Chere_, now we both know dats not true." Again he took a step forward.

And I took another step back. I glared at him.

The crowed cheered loudly, drawing my attention for a moment.

That was all he needed to get a good few steps closer, placing him directly in front of me. I stumbled and fell backwards. I knew he was going to offer a hand, but I panicked when he leaned down.

"Don't touch me!"

Remy stopped everything and took a step back as if I had just landed a punch in the gut to him. He stared at me for a moment as I gathered myself up and stood on me feet. His voice was very quiet and sad when he finally spoke.

"Are- are y' scared of me, Anna?"

Part of me remembered that this was the guy who taught me poker in the boxcar; that rushed to help me when Julien was cornering me. And then another part of me remembered that this was the guy that watched me, stalked me, kidnapped me, used me, and lied to me.

"Ya haven't given me a reason ta not be."

I saw the hurt in his eyes. I actually thought about apologizing. I didn't know what to say. He was staring at me, guilt written across his face and he took a step closer.

"Anna-"

"Remy, please, don't come closer. Ah will scream if Ah feel the need too."

He stopped where he was. With that simple statement, I turned his guilt into frustration. He turned away from me and paced back and forward.

I stood there, watching him, waiting for him to give me an opening to escape.

He never did. Even pissed at himself for something, it seemed like he knew I would bolt at any second and stood just in the way where I couldn't reach my family.

"I tried, Anna! I tried to forget!"

"What?"

"I've tried t' forget abou' y."

"And what? It's mah fault?"

"Non!"

"Then what are you getting' at Cajun?"

"I'm trying t' make y' understand, Anna." He took the risk and stood in front of me. He placed his gloved hands on my arms, forcing me to meet his gaze. "I tried to forget y'. Y' think I wanted t' spend five years looking for y'? I had jobs t' do and guild life to focus on."

"This sound an awful lot like ya're blamin' me again, Swamp Rat."

He sighed, obviously not satisfied with his own words.

"Anna, I don know how t' explain e'vry thing t' y'. I don' think I can." He moved one of his hands off my arm and placed it against the side of my face. "The only thing dat I can say for sure, is that when we were friends, something just clicked."

"Maybe that's because ya were actually talking ta me instead of spying on me." It was really hard to speak right now. I was trying not to concentrate on his hand touching me, but it felt good to be touched. I should have been biting his hand and yelling for help.

Remy chuckled, amused at my statement.

"_Oui_, dat may be 't, _mais_, I think that 't was more dan jus' dat."

"I'm not followin' ya, Cajun." I was surprised I could follow anything that he was saying, much less his meaning.

He looked perplexed.

Like he wanted to do something but shouldn't.

That alone should have warned me.

Stupid brain for not working.

"Anna, please don' hate me for dis."

I inhaled deeply and exhaled. "Remy, Ah don' t hate ya-"

His lips were on mine. An arm snaked around my waist, pulling me closer to him as a hand found its way to cup my head, unrelenting in it's release. I uttered a gasp, which was then followed by his tongue finding mine. I felt him walk me backwards so that I was pressed against the cold metal of the bleachers. I felt my own hand travel to his hair, gripping him so he wouldn't pull away. I felt my own tongue mingle and play with his own.

What I didn't feel was his memories.

For a second I thought I was dreaming.

That was before Remy was pressing my back painfully against the metal structure. I tried to speak, but, well, with Remy on my mouth, that was rather complicated. So I opted for another way to get his attention- I shoved him away from me.

Hard.

A dazed Remy, breathing hard, just stared up at me from the ground. He didn't make a move as he watched me shake. Slowly, as if not to fright me off, she stood up.

"Anna?"

I tried to process everything in my mind. I had absorbed him at Blood Moon Bayou, but not this time.

Nor did I recall absorbing him the first time he kissed me.

"Anna?"

I stared at him.

"Oh mah god. Why aren't ya dead or something?!"

"Mon power."

"Make some sense Remy! How- How can you touch me?!"

"After learnin' abou' y'mutation, I came up with a few theories."

Silence.

I stood there staring at him. I could feel my mouth opening and closing constantly, but the words never coming out. He decided to continue on.

"I- I thought dat since y' absorb people's energy, an' dat I produce energy, dat if I produced enough as I touched y', y' wouldn't absorb anything else."

"… So, ya are saying that it wasn't an accident and that ya can touch me."

"_Oui_."

"And ya aren't going to fall dead when ya do."

"_Oui_."

Remy stared at me waiting for me to explode or something.

"Huh."

"Huh? Dat's all y' got t' say?"

"Um… yeah?"

I'm not sure how long we stood there, staring at each other, but it felt like a good long time before my brain started to kick in.

Remy could touch me.

Only Remy could touch me… and only when he decided to turn on his powers.

I couldn't keep my glare from forming.

"What? What is dat look fo'?"

"So, basically, ya're telling me that the only time Ah can touch is when ya feel lahke it. "

"Anna, dat's not-"

"How dare ya take advantage of me lahke that, Remy LeBeau!"

He made a move to catch my arm, but I swatted it away. "Don't ya dare touch-"

He kissed me again, but this time I was prepared for it. I shoved him back and slapped him across the face. "Don't ever force yaself on me again. Ya're no better than Julien."

Wrong thing to say.

Very wrong thing to say.

Remy grabbed my hold on my wrist and forced me to face him. "Don't ever compare me to him, Anna. Ever." He stared straight into my eyes with such anger that a lesser woman would have cringed. Those eyes, despite the anger, were begging me to see that he was nothing like Julien.

So I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. Remy visibly relaxed, but did not let go of my hand. "I didn't kiss y' t' hurt y', Anna. I jus' wanted y' t' know dat y' don' have t' worry abou' touchin' me."

"Ya couldn't have just said that?"

"Would y' have taken _mon _word?"

He had a point. I probably wouldn't have believed him if he had just told me.

"Ya could have just touched mah hand or something."

"I wasn' thinking clearly at de time. Plus, I don' think y' would have stuck around long enough fo' me to take off une gant. Y' probably would have run off."

I accepted his answer. It was right. As soon as I saw his exposed hand coming near me, I would have taken off like a bat out of hell. Still…

"Ah have a lot of questions for ya, Swamp Rat."

He smiled down at me. "I know. An' y' will get y' answers in time."

"Ya making it sound lahke we'll be spendin' a bunch of time together."

Again he just smiled.

And I decided to not fight it and smile to.

We spent the rest of the game under the bleachers, just listening to everything around us.

We also played a few games of cards, but what else was I expecting? I mean, the man carries about ten decks on him at all times.

When finally the announcer gave the final score, I had to go back to the others.

"Ah got ta be headin back, Cajun. See ya around."

"Anna?" I turned back around to him.

"Yeah, Swamp Rat?"

"We're amis, non?"

I stood at the foot of the bleachers, deciding if that was the smart thing to do.

"Yeah, Swamp Rat. We're friends." I turned around and headed back toward the others, who were congratulating Jeannie on a game well played.

But not before I saw a real, true smile grace Remy's face.  
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Why hello there! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. You finally get to see the story link back to the first chapter! I'm actually proud of my self for this. I must admit though, I'm not quite happy with the first half of this chapter, but seeing as it is a major event, I needed to put it in. But I am rather pleased with the second half.

Again, if there is something you don't quite understand or I have any misconnecting ideas, point them out, please!

And many, many things to _Hbhorselover_, _Cherebelle_, _Maya-chan2007_, _nightwish635_, and _SilverWolf77_ for your encouraging reviews. It really does make the difference!

Ps.: I know that Rogue runs hot and cold in this chapter, but in her defense, she is completely and utterly confused and angry and happy at the same time. She just found out she can touch, but she's used to people taking advantage of her and therefore cannot take things as simple as others. There usually always is an ulterior motive.

Hope to see you all for the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own the x-men; I just own ideas and fanciful thoughts. :)  
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

On the way back to the mansion, my thoughts were firing rapidly in my mind. _I can touch someone. I can touch someone without hurting them_. My thoughts preoccupied my head to the point that I hadn't even noticed that the car was parked and vacant of passengers in Xavier's garage, except for me.

I woke from my daze as I heard the last car door slam shut and watched as they headed for the door.

If cloud nine were a physical feeling, I'm pretty sure my body was experiencing it. I felt giddy. Giddy! And happy, nervous, shy, scared, and uncertain- But I was happy!

I bypassed all the worried glances at my off behavior. The standard: "Are you alright Rogue?" and "Yeah, Ah'm just a bit tahred." I made sure to lay on the accent extra thick to back up my claims.

I made the effort to drag my feet across the carpet as I headed off to my room.

I don't think you understand how hard that was. I wanted nothing more than dash up those stairs and frantically run around the room in a fit of unbounded happiness.

I think I should have received an Oscar… if anything a nominee, at least.

Thankfully, Kitty wasn't back from celebrating Jean's team victory, and so I had the room to my self.

Guess what I did?

I didn't run around the room. I think my excitement was just too much. I slumped against the door and slid down till my bottom reached the floor.

I sat there for a good few minutes, until it all sunk in. Every last thing sunk into realization: _I could touch again_.

~)(~

"Remy? Just how long did it take ya to come up with yahr 'theory'?"

"Let's jus say dat 't wasn' much long after I met up wit y' de second time we met."

"Is that code for 'the day after'?"

He laughed.

For weeks, this is how our meetings have been like.

We meet secretly, away from the potential prying eyes of my x-men family, and as often and frequently as we could.

The first few times we met up, they were awkward as hell. After the initial night that we had under the bleachers, my distrust in people worked its ugly head back into the situation. And Remy realized this too. He saw me watch him with cautious eyes whenever he moved in the slightest.

But after a month had passed, I was beginning to feel comfortable around him. And for the first time in a long time, I began to trust somebody on the outside.

It was …nice.

I snuck out tonight to meet up with him at a local park. We figured out early on that even though people are grateful of mutants, they were still terrified. Hardly any decent people roamed the city in the dead hours of the night, for fear of a mutant attack.

This suited us just fine. It allowed us usually the whole entire park to ourselves.

"Remy, Ah've been wonderin..."

"Hmmm?"

"What was the real reason you wanted me to come down to New Orleans?"

For a heartbeat, Remy paused. I saw his body go rigid, despite the appearance of being comfortably sprawled on his back on the ground next to me.

This was not going to be good.

"Remy?"

He grimaced slightly when he peeked his eyes through his eyelashes. His red met with my green.

"Well, _chere_, y' know dat I've been lookin f'r y' f'r quite some time, _non_?"

"Ah think the more appropriate word 'stalkin', Swamp Rat."

"Eh, tomatoe, tomato, chere. Well, my _petite_ hobby didn' go – uh- unnocited by _mon_ _famille_. So, _naturellemente_, _mon pere et tante et frère_- de whole _famille_- know abou' y'."

"That's… disturbing Swamp Rat."

He laughed outright at me.

"Well, y' didn' help y'self either, _chere_."

"Meaning what?"

"Dat stunt y' pulled, by jumpin' in t' save Lapin and Etienne- 't left quite de impression. An' well, dat, wit' how I was lookin' e'vrywhere f'r y', y' gained _mon famille's_ interest. An' den, when I tol' _mon pere_ dat I'd finally found y', he wanted _moi _t' bring y' around and b' introduced to y'."

I eyed him a bit more. His shoulders were still tense. To anybody else, they'd let him slide. But after being around him constantly, I was keen on his behavior.

Like when he wasn't telling the truth.

Like now.

"Ya know, Remy, Ah might be new ta the whole friendship thing, but Ah was pretty sure the last time Ah checked, lying was not looked upon kindly."

He sighed heavily and rose to a sitting position. By the way he was acting, you'd think I was threatening to tear his tongue out if he didn't answer me.

"Anna, trust moi, I'll tell y' dat, but jus' not t'day." He turned his eyes to me, capturing my gaze with the unspoken promise that he would tell me.

I didn't know what to do, I wanted to press the issue, but I knew he wouldn't tell me. If I did press it, it'd end up with me yelling and leaving in anger and then I'd have to explain what was wrong to the x-men.

Now, that, I really didn't want to happen. I liked my secret friendship with Remy. It was like a guilty pleasure (not that I'd ever tell Remy _that_).

So I ended up just nodding my head, accepting his plea to stop that particular discussion and laid down on the ground. I heard Remy lay back down, and I froze.

He was lying down next to me, and I panicked.

Apparently my panic was noticeable too.

"I'm not too close, am I?"

I couldn't speak. I was too panicked…

And excited.

"Anna?"

He wasn't close enough.

I started shaking in anticipation. I knew what I wanted.

"Ya know," I shakily breathed out. What I was asking- would it be too much to ask? "Ah've been deprived of simple touch for a long time. Ah was wonderin' if- if ya would just hold me? Please?"

I risked a glance at Remy.

And all I saw was a wide stare.

Of course. It would be too much to ask. The hope instantly depleted from me. It would always be too much. I turned my head away from him, I didn't want him to see me cry, didn't want him to see how much it hurt, the constant crave, the constant need, the constant denial.

"Forget it. It was a stupid idea. Ah'm sorry that Ah put ya in an awkward-"

Before I could force out the rest of my sentence, his arms shot out and grabbed me, turning my body to face his once again.

I could honestly feel how huge my eyes were. I was that surprised.

He tugged me closer to him, and wrapped his arms completely around me.

And I just couldn't contain myself anymore.

I latched onto him with such a ferocious need, that I would have been scared for Remy if it weren't me doing the clinging.

It was the best feeling in the world.

I didn't feel disgusting and sick like when Julien was touching me. It felt even better than the first hug that Remy gave me. It felt like bliss.

"Anna," he whispered softly. "Y' ne'ver have t' ask for permission f'r me t' hold y'. Ever."

I hugged him tighter to me, and felt him respond likewise.

I think I could have died happily right then and there.

"_Chere_? Are y' cryin'?"

I looked up from hugging his chest and met his worried gaze.

And laughed.

"Oh Swamp Rat. I'm just so… happy." And then I promptly returned my head to his chest and was greeted with the light lub-dub of his heartbeat. It was wondrous to hear something so intimate. I sighed in perfect content.

I heard his laughter in his chest before it actually emitted from his mouth.

"Moi aussi, cher. Moi aussi." He sighed.

I'm not sure how long I just laid there, half on top of him, listening to his heartbeat, but eventually, Remy fell asleep. I tilted my head to the side so I could watch see his face and still be able to hear his lub-dub.

Looking at him, I realized that without my mutation, I was fragile.

Not in the defenseless, easily taken advantage of fragile.

But in the fragile that I was no longer protected by my mutation. Without it, I ran the risk of emotional risk because I could get attached to people now.

I could get attached to him.

And as I laid there, thinking this, I felt his arms unconsciously wrap themselves around me tighter in his sleep, holding me, just liked I'd asked.

And I realized, that I was already attached. Too much attached to him. It hit me like a fist to the face.

_Remy. I think I'm falling in love with you._

And I actually was going to accept that.

~)(~

I figured, it wouldn't be the best thing to just outright admit to the guy that I was falling in love with him. It would have inflated his ego too much. So I kept it all to myself.

Heck. I half thought that maybe it would be just a crush and work its way out of my system.

But I gave up that theory months ago.

Because the feelings didn't go away or even die down. They just…grew.

So it is safe to say that I, Anna Marie Darkholme, known as The Rogue, was way to far gone. I was beyond falling in love.

I was in it.

And I was _happy_ about it.

It was strange admitting that. Even to myself.

Tonight I was going to meet with Remy again at the park. It was late, so most of the students were busy doing last minute homework before getting ready for our graduation. So I figured I'd get out fairly easily.

I grabbed the front door handle and-

"Stripes. Could I talk to you?"

_Gulp._

I released the door that stood between my escape and me and walked over to Logan, wearing a look of curiosity.

"What's up?"

The only change in his expression was one of his eyebrows raising them halfway up his forehead.

"Why don't you tell me?"

"Um. Ah was just gonna walk around downtown, clear mah head and all."

"Really?" Damn that eyebrow.

"Yeah. Ya know with graduation comin' soon-"

"Stripes. You can quite lying now. You're failing miserably at it anyway."

_Don't panic. Don't panic._

"Ah'm not lying."

"Really? You're still going to stick to your 'clear my head' story? You've been using that excuse since after Apocalypse."

"Ah've had a lot ta think about."

"Yeah. But not about graduation."

Silence.

Logan sighed heavily at me. "Stripes, I can smell him on you every time you come home from your late night walks."

"It's not what you think it is-"

Logan held up his hand for me to stop. "I don't know why, Rogue, but I think I can tell."

"No. Logan, it's seriously _not _what you-"

Again with the damn hand thing.

It was starting to piss me off.

"You're happier."

I stared at him. He stared straight back.

The both of us judging each other.

"Yeah. Ah am."

"Look, Kid. I didn't tell anybody because for some reason they buy you're excuses. That's fine by me, but from now on, you're going to be straight with me. Got it?"

I didn't know what to say. I don't think I could have expressed in words what I felt.

So I did the next best thing I could think of.

I stepped up to him and gave him a big, long hug.

By the way he stumbled back slightly and didn't put his arms around me right away, I'm sure I surprised him. I never initiate contact. Never.

"Thanks, Logan."

"Sure, kid."

I headed back to the door, just in time to hear Logan call out one last thing.

"Just remember, I still don't like or trust the kid. He tries anything- I reserve the right to tear him to pieces, got it?"

I just smiled at Logan as I closed the door and walked out.

~)(~

"Hey dere, _chere_."

"Hey ya're self, Swamp Rat." I sat down next to him on the bench. He glanced at me.

"Y' in a extremely good mood."

I turned my face to him, my smile undeniably spread across my mouth.

"Logan knows."

Remy stares at me for a heartbeat. "An' _monsieur_ claws still let y' ou' o' de house?"

"Yep! He's okay with it."

Remy stared at me deadpanned.

"Honestly, Remy, he really is okay with it."

"De last time I checked, de Wolverine wanted t' gut _moi_ an' leave _mon_ remains f'r de gators."

"Well, yeah."

"Why?"

"Why what?" This was a good thing. Why was he questioning it?

"Why didn' de Wolverine stop y'?"

Was it just me, or was Remy leaning awfully close to me.

_Damn Butterflies, stop your flapping around!_

"He said that…"

Remy was really, _really_ close now.

_Breathe._

"De monsieur said what?"

"That- that Ah was happier."

"An' are y'?"

Well, it would have come out eventually. Might as well go down with pride, right?

"Yeah. Ah am."

Second time I said those three words tonight. It's amazing how powerful they are.

Remy's face lit up with a smile that reached his eyes. It was a fantastic sight to see.

Very slowly he titled his lower.

He was giving me enough time to back away if I wanted to.

I didn't want to.

At first, the kiss was soft and gentle, like a feather light caress against my lips. Then it gradually grew more intense. He lips, yet still gentle, were eager and demanding on mine. I grew bolder and kissed him back with just as much fervor as him.

At some point, I guess we fell off the park bench and onto the ground because when Remy finally pulled away so we could breathe, I noticed I was lying on a sharp rock that was digging into my hip.

"Anna."

I looked up to his face to meet his eyes.

"I love y'."

There was nervousness edged between his words, which also held the sense of fear in them.

I swallowed the saliva in my mouth only to realize that my mouth was as dry as the desert.

"Remy-"

He watched me with abated breath, tortured by the prospect of what I would reply.

"Ah know."

He blinked.

And blinked again.

"Y' know? Dat's all y' have to say?"

I breathed in, and then I breathed out.

And then laughed- thoroughly.

Remy, shaking out of his shock quickly removed himself from on top of me and turned way, leaving.

I eventually got control over myself and gradually hushed my laughter. But I couldn't remove the smile.

I stood up ran to catch up with him. I touched his shoulder trying to gain his attention again.

"Remy,"

He violently shrugged from my hand.

"Don't." He continued to walk away, until I jerked him back by his hand to face me.

His face was devoid of all emotion. But his eyes showed the hurt and pain and anger.

"What? What is 't now?"

I still held onto his hand as I pulled my self towards him.

I still had my smile plastered on my face.

"Remy, ya swamp rat. Ah'm in love with ya too. Idiot."

And then I kissed him.

Tonight was a big night for me to be takin' the inititive.

I was kinda worried when he didn't respond right away. I moved to stop, when he surprised me by gripped my arms, holding me so I wouldn't move any further.

The next thing I know, my backs pressed against one of the trees and we're still kissing. And his hands were on me.

And all over me.

I broke the kiss, which wasn't that hard, since he was moving his mouth down lower, so that his lips could get well acquainted with my neck.

_Oh, god, this feels good._

"Remy."

I was shocked at how huskily my own voice was. Remy wasn't complaining. He just moaned against my neck and continued his activities.

"Remy."

There, that sounded much more commanding.

All I got was what I think was a "hmmm?"

"Swamp Rat, Ah may have just admitted that Ah feel the same way, but that does not mean Ah'm _that_ type of gal."

That caught his attention.

He pulled his face back from me, a slightly horrified expression on his face.

"I- I didn' mean dat I was implyin' anything-I'm sorry- I didn'-"

I laughed again.

He was just so easy to shock.

He quickly let go of me took a step back.

"'M sorry, Anna. I jus- I jus wanted t' do dat for so long- I couldn' stop myself. 'M sorry if I offended y'."

He looked positively ashamed of himself.

"Ah know. Ah figured that it would be better if we didn't move _that_ fast."

"Right. _D'accord_."

We stood there by the tree a few moments longer as we calmed our breathing.

It was one of the most awkward times of my life.

All I could think of was _now what? What do I do next?_

"Uh, Remy? What are we supposed to do now?"

His brow creased in thought. "'M not really sure. I've never been 'n an ac'ual -uh, relationship b'fore."

I laughed softly at his revelation.

"Ah find that rather hard to believe, Swamp Rat."

He grinned and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, leading me down the park pathway.

"Non, 't's true. Any thing beyond closed quarters is _une_ foreign concept t' _moi_."

"Oh yeah? Then what about Belladonna?"

Abruptly I was halted in mid-step. I looked up to catch Remy staring at me in surprise.

"Y' think _moi_- an' Bella-?"

He starts laughing at the mere idea and then started to clutch his side from laughing so hard.

"Oh, _chere_-" he wipes at his moist eyes, "Bella an' I were n'ver more dan jus' amis. I was always t' preoccupied wit lookin for somebody else, non?"

"Just friends? Oh, come on, Remy. The girl is the reason ya family knew where Jean-Luc was, I'd say that ya were more than just friends."

"How did y' know 't was Bella who told us?"

"She told me."

His brows furrowed again, as his red irises looked over at me in shock.

"You've met Bella?"

"Yeah, back when Ah was pissed at ya. She found me on the grounds and we had a little talk. "

"An' she didn't try ta kill y'?"

"Well she had her gun oh me, but she hid it away when she figured out Ah came there with ya."

"Hmmm. In'tresin'. Bella usually kills firs' and asks later."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What? Are ya complainin'?"

"Nope. Not moi."

He pulled me closer towards his side and we continued down the pathway.

"But seriously, Bella an' I were n'ver more dan jus' friends. Nothin' t' worry about."

"Who said Ah was worried, Swamp Rat?"

~)(~

"Logan, could Ah go take a walk around the park again?"

Logan raised an eyebrow, but nodded his head, knowing what I meant. "Sure, kid, knock your self out."

"What?! But, like, Rogue, with graduation a few weeks away, we have to like go shopping!"

"Uh, thanks, but no thanks, Kitty. Ya know how Ah hate malls and crowds."

"But-"

"Catch ya later, Kitty!"

Whoo! That was a close one.

I hopped into the X-jeep and drove my down to the park to meet with Remy again. The whole drive down, I was thinking about how strange and yet, some how right my entire life was at the moment. I have my grades going strong and am just weeks away from being out of Bayville High, I have a couple Colleges that have accepted me, a unofficial official boyfriend (which I never thought I'd have since I was fifteen) and the x-men as friends and family.

Things just seemed to be going perfectly.

I saw Remy's bike parked against the curb, and decided that for once, I would sneak up on the Cajun- You know? To finally best him at something. So I parked the jeep a few block away, out of sight of the park.

I saw his trench coat before I heard his voice.

I was about to run and pounce on him when the voices finally reached my ears.

Yeah, that's right.

Voices

As in plural.

I abruptly turned to find a hiding place, and once I did, I edged closer to see what was going on.

I was more than surprised when I saw that Remy was standing there, talking to Mystique.

I was paralyzed with shock.

I couldn't hear what was being said exactly, nor was I in the position to see Remy's face. But by the way that Mystique was acting, I could tell she meant business.

More words were exchanged, and then suddenly Mystiques hand extends outward for Remy to take.

He shook it.

Then, Mystiques continued on with talking, but by then, I stopped caring.

I hurriedly left the park and went back to the Jeep.

Ring. Ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kitty. It's me Rogue, I was wondering if that invitation to the mall was still open."

"Like, of course!"

"Great, thanks. Ah'll be there in a few."

I hung up the phone and drove down to the mall.

When I finally parked in the parking lot, I had worked myself into a fit of nerves. I was sad, I was hurt, but more than anything I was angry.

I felt betrayed.

Ring. Ring.

I looked down at my phone and saw that Remy was calling me.

Should I leave it? Should I answer it?

Sigh.

"Hello?"

"_Bonjour_, Anna. Where are y'?"

"Hey Remy, uh, Ah don't think Ah can make it to the park today."

"Dat's alright. I'll come t' y. Where are y'?"

Damn it.

"Actually, Kitty ambushed me and forced me to go with her on a shoppin spree."

I heard him laugh through the phone. Any other time I would have smiled at the sound, but right now, it broke my heart.

"Do y' need _moi_ t' come an' save y'?"

"Nah. Ah think Ah owe her some bondin' time. Ah haven't had much of a chance to hang out with her in a while, ya know?"

Of course he knew; he was the reason why.

"Oui. When can I see y' then?"

"Ah don't know, things are gonna be getting pretty hectic around here, with graduation and all. Maybe graduation night?"

There was a pause on his end of the phone.

"Anna? Is e'vrything alright? Are y' okay?"

I wiped a tear from my eye as I replied.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be, Cajun?"

Again I heard him hesitate on the other side.

"D'accord. I shall see y', _chere_, dat night den. I love y', Anna."

I couldn't stop the new tear from falling down in time.

"Yeah, Remy. Ah love ya too."

I waited for him to hang up the phone before I moved from the jeep.

After graduation, I wouldn't be seeing him.

………………………………………………………………….

Well, hello again!

I hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter. I got to say, it took me three days to actually write this thing. Usually I've written all the previous chapters in one or two days, usually the former, but this one was extremely hard to word in a way that expressed everything but not get to sappy or moved to quickly. At least, I hope I didn't move to quickly. Did I? I would have made the 'confessions of love' wait for a later time, but in order for this fic to get on the ball and start rolling, I had to put it in there, so I'm sorry if it seemed rushed with the whole "I love you" "I love you, too" deal. To clear things up, Rogue believes that Mystique is attempting to manipulate the x-men, Kurt, herself, herself and Kurt, or all of the previously mentioned and that Remy has agreed to help Mystique. Does that help?

Anyways: I've noticed that some of the music I listen to influence me, like for this chapter, I heard the song Make Damn Sure (by taking back Sunday) a while ago and I just automatically thought it could be worked in to the story. *See the part where Remy asks if he's too close" listen the song and you shall be enlightened.

But otherwise, to go off in a tangent about theme songs for Remy and Rogue in my opinion are Paralyzer by Finger Eleven (for Remy) and I Get Off by Halestorm (for Rogue).

Thank you yet again to Maya-chan2007, SilverWolf77, and nightwish635 for your encouraging reviews! You guys are the best.

Catch ya next time!

And please, don't forget to review!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I re-edited this chapter, because I realized that my work is more of a script format rather than prose format. Sorry! I'll try to be more descriptive and what not. I made some changes, just things that have been bugging me. So, now, I can really start on the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own the x-men or anything except fanciful and fantastical ideas.  
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After spending the entire afternoon and majority of the evening shopping with Kitty and Jean and a few other girls, my mind was a bit clearer and I could think logically.

And I think I may have overreacted a little bit.

Okay.

I overreacted a whole hell of a lot.

As soon as I was home and away from nosey ears, I was going to call him and say … something.

It felt like hours upon hours were passing me by as Kitty and Jean dragged me through what felt like thousands of stores before finally calling it quits. And seven bags full of 'stuff' later, we were in our cars and headed back to the institute.

As soon as I parked the X-Jeep, I leaped from the car and stormed the Institutes front door. I glanced quickly around the place.

"Hey guys."

I didn't wait for a reply and just went on my way to the stairs.

"Hold it, Stripes."

I glanced back at the people I greeted, and noticed that they all looked… distressed.

_Sigh_.

"What's happened this time?" I dragged myself down the stairs so that I stood in front of them.

I really wish I hadn't.

Logan gave me a brief glance that told me I would _not_ like this one bit.

Xavier wheeled out from beside Logan and Ororo as Kitty and Jean walked though the door. It was a rather comical sight: Kitty's arms were loaded with bags full of clothing and accessories and was waddling her way toward us. "Like, where's the fire Rogue? You could have at least, like, offered to help."

"Girls," professor Xavier cut in, "we have something to discuss."

Kitty gave a confused look to the Professor, but shrugged her shoulders and delicately placed her 'precious purchases' on the gorund, relieving herself of the excess wait. To be frank, its abnormal how much she can hold when it comes to shopping. I'm pretty sure she could lift the weight of Logan if it were in jeans and shirts. Jean on the other hand, gripped her two bags tighter in worry. Her eyes locked onto the professor's, probably having a mental talk, because she remained quite for a few seconds before nodding her head somberly.

I, on the other hand, was beyond confused.

"What happened?"

Xavier calmly placed his hands in his lap after he looked each of us in the eye. "Magneto has made a full recovery since Apocalypse. We had hope that his view on the situation would change, but it appears that he still believes that mutants have a superiority over humans."

"Okay, that's nothin' new." I was about to turn around when Logan spoke up.

"Stripes, Mystique's with him." Again, I waited for something starling. "I've been trailin' her the past few weeks and she's been lookin' for recruits."

I froze, with one foot on the bottom stair.

"Who've they got?"

"Looks like the brotherhood," he paused, the looked at me pointedly for a brief moment, "and maybe a few of Magneto's old Acolytes."

"…Oh." Was that why mystique was there today? If that's the case, maybe he said no… but then there was the handshake… maybe it was a gretting. Like a 'nice to see ya again' type of handshake. Somehow, I really don't think that was the case. But what if Logan is wrong? What if I was still just overreacting? "But ya aren't positive?"

"Not yet."

"Like, Lance is back with Magneto?" Kit asked, sounding like a kicked puppy.

The professor turned his eyes to Kitty leaving only Logan's gaze on me. We stood there for a few seconds before he gave me a slight nod, giving me permission to find out more information from a more direct source.

I disappeared up the stairs into my room and locked the door. Once it was locked, I swiftly pulled out my cell phone and hit the redial button.

I heard the dial tone start and for the few seconds I had to myself, I calmed myself. I was probably overreacting- everyone was probably overreacting- and Remy was just… umm...chatting with Mystique.

Yeah. Just chatting.

_Click._

"Anna?"

"Remy… Ah was at the park earlier."

"Den why didn'-"

"Why was Mystique there?"

He hesitated. For five whole freakin' seconds he hesitated before answering me.

"_Chere_-"

Ah wasn't going to give him the chance to con me out of an answer.

"Remy." There was again a weighty silence. "It's a simple question, Swamp Rat."

I heard him sigh on his end. Probably feeling cornered and frustrated. I could just see that hand of his running through his auburn hair, too. I was slightly in awe that I could read him so well. Like now. He does the frustrated sigh and fingers his hair when he's uncomfortable. Or when he really doesn't want to explain something.

"_Chere_, 'M a t'ief. I'll always be a t'ief."

"That doesn't answer mah question, Swamp Rat."

_Don't say it. Don't say it. Please oh please don't say it._

"Dey made a convincing pitch. If I go an' work for dem, I'll be blowin' up labs dat dose people use t' experimen' on mutants."

"Remy, that is not the way ta go about all this!"

"_Chere_, 'm sorry, _mais_, 'm goin' t' help bucket head and Mystique. I already said dat I would."

It felt like the wind was knocked out of me. And everything was falling around me. I'm pretty sure that's when Ororo's psyche reacted to the pressure and I just started to feel constricted in my room. I pressed the phone further into my ear and tried to concentrate on not panicking and just breathing.

Well, I did, before Remy's voice on the line snapped me out of the panic funk I was in.

"Anna? _Chere_? Y' still dere?"

And all at once, I felt nothing and everything. I felt the anger and betrayal at the foremost and was just fed up.

"It's Rogue."

_Click._

As soon as I snapped my phone shut on him, I threw it against the wall… repeatedly. Then, I threw the crushed pieces out the window until I heard them shatter against the cement walkway below.

_Just breathe. Take a big, deep breath. _

Once I had control over my seething anger and damned other emotions, I swiped my bangs from in front of my face and unlocked the door and stepped out into the hallway and calmly made my way down the staircase. At the bottom, I saw that the professor was still in conversation with the rest of the team. Most likely preaching the same old song and dance of 'protect people first and foremost' and 'stop Magneto without causing permemant damage'.

Logan on the other hand, was watching me with critical eyes, reading the set of my jaw and my stiffened stance.

"Stripes…"

I really didn't want to hear him say something like "I'm sorry", or, "I wish I was wrong". Or even "I told you so", if he had the audacity to go that far. Frankly, I just didn't want to hear anybody.

"Ah'm gonna need a new phone. Ah killed mah old one." I glared once at everybody in the room, before my eyes settled back on Logan. I saw his tired eyes warily observe me. It was unspoken, but right then, I knew Logan wished he was wrong. It was nice to know I wasn't the only one who wished that.

But we both knew that there was nothing else to be done, and so I just walked back up the stairs.

Thankfully, everyone here knew better than to get in my way when I was in a sour mood.

~)(~

The next couple of days went by and I didn't see him.

Not for his lack of trying, though.

That same night, after I hung up on Remy, Logan told me to go upstairs. At the time I was chilling out in the rec. room with the other kids, so Logan's request was more than a little odd. I was about to protest and deny any wrongdoing, but then, the doorbell rang.

_Ding Dong._

"Stripes, if you don't want to see him-"

I was out of the room before he could finish his sentence. I made a b-line towards the staircase, which resulted in a few moments of sliding around in my socks without control. I would have laughed had I not been a bit preoccupied with escaping the eyes and ears of Remy. I was almost at the top of the steps when I heard the pounding on the door.

"_Chere_? Can we jus' talk? _S'il vous plait?_"

I froze on the steps. I turned wide-eyed to Logan, frozen with mixed feelings.

Logan seemed to understand, though, and reassured me that I could go and hide. "Go. I'll handle him."

I gulped down the large lump in my throat and started forward again, but instantly turned around to face Logan. "Just don't kill him, alright?"

I saw him heave a sigh more than I actually heard it. "Fine."

With that said I made my way off of the staircase and hid behind the wall, just out of sight. Just because I didn't want to see him, it didn't mean that I didn't want to hear what he had to say.

Remy's pounding started up again, but abruptly ended when I heard the lock unlatch and the door creak open.

There was a quiet moment of uncertainty and I could almost hear Remy's mental debate on what he should say in order to not get himself killed.

"_Bonjour_, _Monsieur_ Wolverine-"

"What do you want Gumbo?"

Well, there went formalities.

"Is Rogue aroun'?"

"No."

There was a heated silence between the two of them. I was almost tempted to take a peek. Maybe Remy believe Logan and –

"Rogue?!" he called out loudly.

I cringed inwardly. The boy had no tact when it came to secrecy.

"Look, Gumbo. I said Rogue aint here, and she aint here-"

"What is he doing here?!"

Oh lordy. Scotty-boy just had to stick his nose in to this. Crap.

"Is Rogue here?"

_Say no. Please say no. Please oh please oh please oh please say no._

"What's it to you?" I mentally applauded Scotty for his macho answer. My mental victory dance, however, came to a tragic halt as I hear Kit's voice enter the scene at the bottom of the stairs.

"Guy's? Like, what's going on? Oh! Gambit! What are you, like, doing here?

_Oh fuck._

"'M lookin' fo' Rogue. She here?"

"Um, like, yeah. You want me to, like, get her?"

"_Oui, s'il vous plait_."

"Kitty! You will not! Gumbo- Leave now!"

"Non. Not till I speak wit Rogue."

_Snikt._

"She doesn't want to speak with you, Gumbo."

"Like, oh my god!"

I groaned quietly. I had a feeling that I would not be getting to sleep so quickly tonight.

"_Monsieur_, I need t' see her."

"Gumbo, the only way you're going to see her is during a fight. Now get out."

"Rogue?" he called out again. "I know y're dere."

_Damn empath._

"_Chere_, I jus' wan' t' talk."

"Go ta hell!"

"You heard the girl, Gumbo."

"_Chere_-" he tried again.

"It's Rogue! Get it straight Swamp Rat!"

"Gambit, I think you should leave."

Thank you, Scotty-boy. Maybe we should change you're code name to Captain Obvious.

I heard Remy's stressed exhale. "Fine. I'll go. _Chaton_, could y' please tell Rogue dat 'm sorry?"

"Umm….sure."

"_Merci_."

And with that, I heard the door shut. I poked my head around the corner to see all three of them looking back at me.

I laughed nervously.

That's when kitty squealed.

"Like, oh my god!" Before anybody could stop her, she had rushed up the stairs and grabbed my wrist as she dragged me behind her. "You have got, like, _a lot_ of explaining to do!"

_Damn that swamp rat._

~)(~

The day after he knocked on the door, I found a letter on my pillow. I thought that it might be from Remy, but as I was unsure, I took a peek at the handwriting.

Yep. Remy's. Without reading it, I placed the letter back in the envelope and dropped it back on my desk.

I think it's safe to assume that it had a request to meet, because the next day, Kitty phased into our room holding a vase of white calla lilies.

My favorite.

I only told one person that those were my favorite.

"Rogue! This is, like, so sweet!"

"Kitty. Ya are not helping."

"Oh. Right."

When I told her everything, as she would not settle for less and threatened to help Remy if I did not tell her, she quickly took the position of defensive best friend. Although, apparently she was still the ever hopeful romantic because she set the vase on my nightstand.

"I still can't believe that he's, like, an honest to god prince!"

"Ya do realize how oxymoronic that sounded?"

She ignored me, and continued on as if I hadn't said a word.

"You are living a fairytale!"

"What? Ya think that this will end in a happily ever after? I hardly doubt that."

"You never know! You might end up being like a princess and get the perfect fairy tale ending!"

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? It could, like, totally happen!" I just laughed.

And laughed and laughed.

"Kit, sometimes, Ah think ya're crazier than me."

She just smiled and left me in the room.

With a vase full of lilies and a letter from a lover.

~)(~

"Everyone, suit up."

All of us looked up from our places in the rec. room and at Logan. We had decided to enjoy our time free from the danger room and watch a movie. This time, it was Kitty's turn to choose and she decided to watch Robin Hood.

It was kinda amusing how hard she was pushing the fairy tale scenario. Everyday she came up with some completely ridiculous theory on how was like a fairytale princess. And truthfully, I didn't stop her. I wasn't going to be the one to crush her hope, no matter how far fetched it was. And besides, it kinda became our inside joke.

But when Logan came in all serious and battle ready,Jeannie immediately snapped to attention, just like Scotty-boy.

"Why? What's happened?"

"Magneto and crew are creating a disturbance."

"It's the day before graduation!" Kitty whined. "Can't they, like, do it tomorrow night?"

"Sure kitty, go ahead and ask magnet brain that. I'd love to hear his response."

Scotty-boy snorted. "Well, I'm sure if somebody would ask Gambit to call it quits for a few hours, he would."

It got really quite after that. Everyone had heard about Remy's little visit, and his reason why.

I sat there stunned, unable to talk. Fortunately, Kitty was there to stick up for me with Kurt not far behind her.

"Scott, that was totally uncalled for."

"Yeah man."

"Come on, Rogue, let's like, go suit up."

I stood and followed kitty.

Well, at least I know who my true friends are, right?

~)(~

"Rogue, I'm sorry for the comment I made back there."

"Sure ya are, One-eye."

I took a seat next to Logan as we closed the ramp to the Blackbird.

It took less than fifteen minutes to arrive at our destination. If that was what it was anymore. The street was littered with debris from the explosion of a building to our left. Papers were everywhere, charred bits and pieces lying about. You could tell that Avalanche had been there by the shape the street and surrounding ground was in.

Maybe we were too late. Maybe they had already left and we could just go –

"Hey mate! Lookie there! We got company!"

Oh great. The fire teletubbie was back.

God, he was hard to look at. He was so bright and colorful that it hurt.

"Ah, X-men. How pleasant of you to come."

Magnet brain floated up above us, looking as nerdy as usual. He levitated the Black bird up and brought it smashing down to the ground, and then went off to go do some more metal damage.

Well, there goes our ride home.

"Jean, can you and Rogue get Magneto?"

Jeannie and I shared a look.

We both nodded at one another and soon drew back from the rest of our members.

As the rest of our team charged into their own battles, Jean and I found Magneto again.

"Jean, do ya think that ya could levitate me up there? If anything, Ah could try ta get that helmet off and ya could attack him that way."

"Okay. Remove any metal you got on you."

I checked over my outfit and removed anything that looked like it was metal. I then grabbed.

"Ah think Ah'm all good and ready ta go."

"Let's do this."

Jeannie stood back and closed her eyes in concentration.

I felt myself become unbalanced as my feet lifted from the ground. Jeannie was doing a damn good job of keeping me steady. I causiously removed my gloves, not wanting to put Jeannie under any more stress and let them fall to the ground bellow. I was almost to Magneto. Just a little bit further…

_**Boom.**_

Just as I was about to reach out and surprise Magneto with a touch of my hand, I began falling.

Fast.

I closed my eyes tight and hoped that I would be knocked unconscious before I felt the full extent of all of the damage.

However, I heard and felt the sound of my body colliding with something else at the same moment I heard "Gotcha."

I peeled open one of my eyes.

And saw Remy's smirking face was looking back at me.

I snapped my other eye open and looked around.

I noticed a few things that I didn't like: Magneto was still hovering about, doing damage and Jeannie was lying unconscious with a few burn marks around her.

Didn't take a rocket science to put two and two together: Gambit.

So, as soon as Remy placed me back on my feet, I punched him hard on the shoulder.

"Swamp Rat! What did ya do?!"

"Hello t' y', too, _chere_. I missed y' too."

"Damn it, Remy! This is not the time or place!"

"Well, how was I suppos' t' know?! Y' haven' been answerin' _mon_ calls, or meetin' me!"

_Calls?_ I thought, _I hadn't gotten any calls- oh right. I murdered my phone._

"Well, whose fault is that?"

He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated.

_See! I knew his habits!_ I felt the rush of pride and giddiness… but quickly reminded myself that we were not on friendly terms at the moment.

"Anna, I don' wan' t' argue wit' y'."

"How many times do Ah have ta tell you its Rogue, Gambit?"

I glared at him, hoping that he would get the message.

He glanced at me and stared. Then a smirk formed on his mouth. "Did I e'ver tell y' how _belle_ y' look when y' angry?"

I'm pretty sure I looked like a _belle_ and angry fish then, with my mouth opening and closing.

His smirk broadened to an outright grin as I felt heat flush my face.

I scowled and glared at him with all my worth.

"_Really_ not the time, Gambit." I hissed.

I heard explosions and shouts further off, I looked down to see that Jeannie was gaining conscious now and heard the yells too. She got to her feet and hurried off.

I would have joined her too, if the damn Swamp Rat hadn't grabbed a hold of my arms and pulled me farther away from my team.

"We're not done talkin', _chere_."

His arms held me firmly against his chest as he dragged me farther away to a more secluded spot.

"Swamp Rat, let go of me!"

"_Non._"

That's it. I'd had enough. I was beyond pissed and tired of trying to break free without hurting him. I kicked backwards and my heel connected with his shin.

Hard.

Remy immediately released his hold on me and as soon as my feet touched the ground I turned around and faced him; fighting stance at the ready.

"'M not goin' t' fight y'."

"Then it'll be an easy win for me." I aimed a punch to his nose, but he dodged out of my way, and moved behind me. I jabbed my elbow backwards and made contact with his abdomen; receiving a grunt of pain in reply.

He hunched over a little, and I was kinda worried that maybe I broke his rib or something.

Well, I was, that is, until he pulled out his bo staff.

Never taking his eyes off of me, he shrugged out of his trench and let it fall to the ground.

"Don' make me fight y', Anna."

"Ya make ya're own choices, Gambit."

I threw a punch at his head, and didn't close as his staff knocked my arm away from him. I dropped to the ground and tried to kick his legs out from under him, and he jumped.

It was infuriating.

Everything I did, he counter-acted.

Punch. Block. Jab. Twirl. Kick. Jump.

And repeat, and repeat, and repeat.

Knowing Remy, I should have recognized the tactics. I should have seen it coming, but before I could acknowledge what he was doing, Remy already had me maneuvered back against a wall and cornered.

"Will, y' listen now, _chere_?"

Another boom shook the ground and, as I peered over Remy's shoulder, I saw a huge ball of flame rise up in the air. I made another attempt to run and help my teammates, but Remy pushed me back against the wall, hands on either side of my face.

"Non. We talk."

"But my team-"

"Dey can take care o' demselves."

I huffed at him. "What do ya want?"

"What do I wan'? I wan' y' t' listen t' me! Give _moi _a chance t' explain and f'r y' to stop ignorin _moi_!

"Ah'm not going ta keep seein' ya after Ah find out ya helpin' ta hurt people!"

"Dose people don't deserve y're help! Dose people are monsters!" He shouted at me.

"There still people, Remy!"

"Dey don' think o' us as dat!"

"With people lahke Magneto and Mystique and ya trying ta kill them, Ah don't blame them!"

"'M not tryin t' kill anyone!"

"Ya could have fooled me! How do ya think it looks lahke ta them? Ya blow up their buildins, with them still inside?"

"'M doin' dis to protect mutants lahke us."

"Protect mutants by helping them! By helping _us_ help them! Not by destroying building's and hurtin' everyone else."

"What if I did? What if I did, an' one of dose bastards gets t' mutants? What if dey get t' y'? Y' think I'm just gonna sit back an' let dat happen?" I saw his eyes implore for me to understand.

"No, because that aint gonna happen."

"But 't could, Anna. It could!"

"Is that what this is all about? Are ya making this all about me? Remy, this has nothing ta do with me!"

"It has ev'rything t' do wit y'! 'M not gonna let a _homme_ like Trask get his hands on y' again. 'M not gonna loose y', Anna. Not t' people like Trask, or because o' dis."

"That aint all ya're choice! What about what ah choose!?" declare

"Do y' love _moi_?" he asked suddenly, throwing me way off topic.

"What?! Ah'm not getting inta this now! What are ya? Bipolar or something?!"

"_Non_. 'M serious. Do y' love _moi_?"

"Remy- I'm not joking."

"Neither 'm I, Anna. _Je t'aime_" he stated. He moved closer, cupping his hands against my jaw. "… I love y'."

"Jesus, Remy. Can't we discuss this some other time?! We're in the middle of a friggin fight!"

"Anna, marry _moi."_

It was deathly silent despite the constant booms in the background and Pyro's maniacal laughter. For me, I could hardly focus on anthing at the moment. I felt butterflies. Thousands of them, all jittering around inside of me.

"Anna?"

Pyro's laughter abruptly stopped, I don't think Remy quite noticed that yet.

"Anna? Say somethin', _s'il vous plait_."

I gulped down dry air. And opened my mouth to speak.

"Remy, I-"

"Stripes?" Logan shouted loudly. Thank god they haven't seen me yet. "Stripes, where are ya?"

"Anna-"

I did the only thing I could think of to get out of this situation. I kissed Remy.

And after a moment, he kissed back fiercely.

He pulled away from me so we could breathe. "I'll take dat as a yes." He smiled down at me brightly, eyes shining with adoration and love.

And then I punched him.

Hard enough to knock him down and shake him up.

And as soon as he was down, I grabbed his bo staff and ran.

I ran all the way back to my team mates that were waiting near the new jet that Ororo flew in here.

"Get in! Get in and let's go!"

"Jeez, Rogue what's the rush? They, like, all left."

"Anna!"

I cringed as I, and everyone else, looked back to see Remy stumbling towards us, holding the back of his head.

"Damn girl. What did you do to him?"

I guess he must of hit his head on the ground when he fell.

"Guys, can we please just go?"

Logan must of smelt the panic radiating off of me because he took action.

"All of you, get on the jet now." Nobody dared challenge Logan's order. "Close the ramp."

I looked at Remy as the ramp rose up.

He finally regained his composure and was running at full speed toward us.

_Oh crap! He's going to come here. Oh crap. Crap crap crap crap!_

The ramp finally closed, just in time for Remy's fist thump loudly against the metal. Everyone could hear the sound of muffled shouting come from the outside the wall.

Thank god they only heard muffled shouting.

His shouting didn't stop when the engines roared to life.

"Can this thing go any faster?!"

Logan just laughed at me as the jet finally lifted into the air.

I glanced out the window to see Remy just staring up at me, just like he did back on Blood Moon Bayou. Only this time, he wasn't smirking.

"Rogue?"

I met Kurt's questioning gaze with scared eyes. He couldn't possibly know, could he?

"Yeah?"

"Vhy do you have Gamvit's metal staff?"

"What? Oh!" I looked down to see that I still had the bo staff clutched in my hands. "Ah thought that- that it would be funny if Ah stole something from a thief, ya know?"

Kurt gave me a look that expressed how brilliant he thought I was and laughed. Thankfully, mostly everyone in the jet believed it.

But the glances I got from Jean, Kitty and Logan stated otherwise.  
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A/N- again sorry for the false hope of a new chapter! I'll get started right away!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men. I just frolic around with ideas and situations to place them in. (well, usually only a particular few of them, really).

_TENaSeein'_- you had me giddy and excited after reading your review. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And heck yes, I'll get them back together! What type of Romy fan would I be if didn't? Goodness. Haha. I really appreciate your enthusiasm. Thank you.

_XSuicuneX_- well if it's a rarity to be placed among your alerts, I consider myself a bit honored, then. : ) Good, I'm glad you got the whole random situation when Remy popped the question. I was kind of scared that readers would think it was a bit too, strategized. But I have to correct you here: Rogue is not 14. She's eighteen. I think I confused you a bit. Here's a shorthand timeline. Rogue is 13 goes to New Orleans and steps into a fight where Remy (16) ends up saving her (and his cousins). Remy spends a year looking for Rogue and when he is 17 he tracks down Anna who is 14 (They have not seen each other since New Orleans). From then on, he keeps his eyes on her whereabouts, but when Rogue's mutation came around, he eventually lost track of her because of the alter ego and joining Mystique and eventually the X-men. They officially meet for the second time at the docks when they are 18 and 21. And thus, the rest of the story so far. Does that explain everything better? (And your darn right Gambit is a bit ticked off about what Rogue did. I mean he freaking proposed to her and she punches him before running back to her spandex-wearing friends. How would you feel in his shoes? …Or boots, rather?). Thanks!

_Falynn07_- I really appreciate your comments. After a while I thought that maybe I wasn't giving enough incentive to the reader to go "hey! What's this?" I'm glad that I can get you to sympathize with Rogue and experience the same way, and I hope I portray Rogue as person who is not without flaws. I think she's a bit impulsive and skeptical about everyone, but granted, she does have some right to be so. Thanks for the input!

_Maya-chan2007_- After writing chapter 7, I thought she was being too judgmental, but I didn't quite want to give up that characteristic either. I was thinking, maybe after spending a whole freaking afternoon/day shopping with clothes junkies, she would have thought that maybe she was being stupid and should give Remy the benefit of the doubt. I mean, that's what most people do right? Go out somewhere to blow off some steam, and then after calming, think things over and finding possible misconceptions? I know that's what I do. And Kitty? Not find something out? Pshhh. Like I'm that nice to Rogue. Ha.

_Chellerbelle_- Glad I could keep you intrigued so far! Hopefully this one will be worth the wait too. : D

_Courtney Summers_- Marriage? I think I need to complicate both Rogue's and Remy's lives just a tad bit more before I let them get to their "I do's". As much as I love happy endings, I think I love twists a bit more. Hopefully I can show you want I mean. ;)

_DevilishBea-Anime-Couple-Lover_- I gotta say, that's quite the name you got. Haha. Go ahead, scream a lot in happiness. Thanks for the gusto over the plot line. And of course she wants to say yes, but she's still a tad- uh- pissed off at him. (I mean, the girl **murdered** her phone over him! ) Definitely a Jonda fan. There is just too much humor between John and Wanda to look over. Hmmm. Now, you've got me thinking into some possibilities. Thanks!

_Jupiter Light_- Haha. I'm glad you don't hate kitty. Sure, she comes off a bit strong, but she's just too kid-sister(ish) to dislike. (I imagine that she is, at least. I only have a sister and I'm the younger.)

_Sammer3_- well, I hope that this fuels your appetite! Here's the update!

Thank you all for the reviews and input!  
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Usually I don't consider myself a morning person. Actually, I'd go as far to say that I detest mornings. At best, I function at bare minimum levels in the a.m. hours.

You'd think that a roommate would remember that after years of sleeping in the same room with the person.

But apparently, graduation, sleep, and her safety were not enough to make her forget such important things.

As soon as we stepped into the room when we got back from the mission, she cornered me and then proceeded to explode.

"Like, what the heck was that all about?!"

I stared at Kit for a moment, trying to comprehend the squeaks she just made. After a few seconds, I subconsciously translated it to the human pitch equivalence.

"Kit, if ya're voice goes any higher, ya're going to burst a vein." She rolled her eyes at me and took a few steps back but continued to stare at me expectantly. Was she expecting me to do a trick or something?

Kit crossed her arms as I passed her to my bed and began to tap her toe against the carpeted floor. "Well? What happened between you and Remy?"

I sighed and unzipped my uniform. "It's nothin'."

Kit scoffed loudly at that. "Yeah, like Gambit would run at the enemy- defenseless, and might I add hurt," I cringed, "for nothing."

"Just let it go, Kit."

And I abruptly left the room and went into our bathroom. I knew locking the door was pointless when you roomed with a girl who could phase, but it got the message across: I want to be alone. I could hear her pacing behind the door in frustration. I stepped underneath the showerhead and finally, the feeling of edginess started to ebb away. Throughout the whole trip back, I felt sick and on more than a few occasions, I thought I was about to really loose my stomach.

God, I love showers.

As soon as the water began to turn cold- that was when you knew you were in the shower for a _really_ long time- I turned the water off and stepped from the stall. I had barely dried my self off and changed into my pj's when Kitty phased through the door scaring the living daylights out of me.

"Okay, I can not just, like, let this go. Something happened today between you and Remy and it is like huge!"

This was starting to get annoying. I did another towel dry with my hair before I sternly began to scold Kitty on minding her own business.

"Kit-"

"If you don't tell me then I'll go to Gambit!"

"What?!" I screeched. And she phased through the door. I ran after her, reaching the door handle when I slammed against the door. The damn thing wouldn't budge!

Then I remembered that it was still locked.

As soon as I got that demonic door unbolted, I threw open the door and found Kitty standing on top of her bed with her hand positioned above her phone in the process of dialing.

"Ya push another button on that phone and ya won't be wakin' up for graduation!" I threatened.

The effect that had was dramatic. She turned to me, wide eyed and scared. I was about to tell her to put the phone slowly on the bed when I heard the soft buzz of the dial tone and then- him.

"_Chaton? Chaton y' dere?"_

I think my eyes grew as big as Kit's as we both stared at the phone in horror. "Shut it! Shut it now!" I hissed at her.

"_Anna?! Chere, talk to me-"_

I snatched the phone form her hand and snapped it shut. "What the hell do ya think ya're doing?!"

"Uh, Rogue?"

"Ya just don't call the enemy after fighting them! And why in Sam's hill do you know his number?!"

"_Because I gave de number t' her."_

I screamed and dropped the phone, looking around. I glanced around the whole room, when I saw the look on Kitty's face.

"I tried to tell you, honestly! The phone doesn't automatically hang up when you close it. You have to press the red button."

"What?" She pointed back down to the silent phone that was lying on the floor.

"_Chere_," I picked up the small device and thrust it into Kitty's face.

"Turn it off!"

"_Chere, don't hang up!"_

"I will if you, like, explain."

"Kit!"

"_Chere, let m' explain-"_

"I swear I'll help him in whatever it is that's going on!"

"_- I meant what I asked y'-"_

"Alright, fine! Just turn it off!"

"_Chaton, don't-" _

_click._

I closed my eyes and exhaled heavily.

"You so have a lot of explaining to do."

I opened my eyes and looked at her. Apparently she saw something because she quickly rushed off the bed and quickly grabbed me into a tight embrace.

It was when I felt the growing cold wet patch on her shoulder that I realized that I was crying.

"What happened, Rogue? Did he, like, hurt you? Is it this Anna chick?"

My sobs turned into laughter as I realized I'd never told her who Anna was. I reluctantly stepped out of the comfort of the hug and wiped my watery eyes. _Sniffle_. "No. Ah'd kick his sorry arse ta Logan if he so much as tried ta hurt me."

"Then why are you crying? Did he cheat on you with this Anna?"

"Ha. Nah. That's mah real name, Kit."

I started explaining everything then. How he'd sought me out and then we got into a fighting match. Then his explanation and his fears finally to him popping the question. That got a gasp and a squeal out of Kit.

"Like, oh my god! What did you do?"

"Well," I rubbed the back of my neck, "I kissed him," another squeal, "and then I punched him and ran away." Her jaw dropped.

"You did what?!"

Yeah, it was going to be a long night.

~)(~

Graduation morning, everyone was smiles and laughter and giddy with excitement. Everyone except me, that is. Me, I could frankly care less, and I'm pretty positive that my 'enthusiasm' was obvious. For everyone, today was going to be a great day.

Maybe I would share in everyone else's enthusiasm, if it weren't for my roommate's tenacity to know every insignificant detail of my life.

Okay, I admit, having Remy proposed to me was a pretty big deal. No, wait. It was huge. But after only three hours and 23 minutes of actual sleep, can anyone blame me for feeling like killing all the perky people in the damn room?

I mean, come on. Throw me a freaking bone here and turn off the blinding smiles and give me my damn cup of black coffee already. Is that to freaking much to ask for?

"Here ya go, Kid." Logan appeared next to me holding that steaming pot of black liquid gold and it hit me that Logan was a God.

"Logan, Ah friggin love ya." My greedy hands sought out the soothing heat of the mug, and as soon as I made contact, that coffee was mine.

Every single glorious drop was mine. I took in the delicious aroma of my elixir and brought the cup to my mouth and-

"Chuck wants to see ya."

I lowered the cup without tasting my coffee, frowning. Professor X wanted to see me? At seven in the morning?

Did he- did he know?

I mentally slapped myself on the forehead.

Of course he knew. He's a freaking telepath, for crying out loud.

_Idiot Idiot Idiot!_

"Ah take it back. Ah hate ya." Logan chuckled at me, but when he saw I wasn't even smiling along with him, he reached to take the mug away from me.

I leant back far enough so I was just out of his reach.

"Ah don't think so, wolf-boy."

_Growl._

Aha! There it is! I knew not everyone in this damn place had to be so perky!

Realizing that I was in possible danger of a suddenly angry Wolverine, I did the only thing imaginable.

I carefully ran out of the kitchen as fast as I could without spilling a drop of the coffee. I knew Logan wouldn't kill me if I went to go see Xavier.

Standing in front of Xavier's study door was a rather awkward moment for me. What do you tell the guy who knows what you're gonna do? There's no use in denying it- he's already seen inside my mind. So he's either going to lecture me, or try to convince me to not do it.

Maybe I shouldn't go in there. I could just go to the ceremony- smile and thanks and then be on my-

"Rogue, please come in."

Well, crap. Here goes nothing.

After taking a big deep breath, I crossed the threshold and closed the door quietly behind me.

"Ya wanted ta see me Professor?"

"Yes, I did. Please take a seat."

_Sneaky move, Prof. Very clever. Making sure I don't have a good opportunity to just bolt and run out of here. _

"Yes, I thought it was rather clever myself."

I stared at him with my mouth hanging off its hinges at his blunt openness about reading my mind.

And then I scowled.

"Ah thought ya weren't into invadin' other's privacy."

"I usually am not, but you are a rather difficult person to read, Rogue. In fact if it weren't for Kitty's thoughts shouting in her head last night, I wouldn't have even realized we had a situation on our hands."

"_We_ don't have a situation on our hands. _Ah_ have a situation on mah hands. This is nobody else's business."

"Do you truly think that your decision today will affect only you?"

Silence.

"What about Kitty?"

I wasn't going to say a word.

"No? How about Logan and Kurt?"

"This has nothin' ta do with them."

"You're wrong Rogue."

"Look, Professor. Please don't waste both of our times tryin' ta change mah mind. Ah'm not goin' ta."

Xavier sighed heavily as if disappointed.

Well, whooo-hoopty doo. He can give me that disappointed face as much as he pleases.

"I hoped that I could help you, but even I know that this is between you and Remy. The Jeep is yours, I legalized it this morning."

Stunned.

That was all I could even begin to feel.

"Ya're not gonna try ta fight me on this?"

Xavier smiled at me. "What good would it do? You've already made up your mind. All I can offer you is my help."

I got up form my chair and walked over behind his desk and hugged him.

Yeah. That's right. I hugged him.

I felt the fatherly pat on my back as reassured me that if I ever need anything, that the X-men and him were here for me.

"Thanks professor."

I stood back up and grabbed my half empty mug of cooling coffee.

Heck, with the way things were going in my favor this morning, maybe things would continue going in my favor.

~)(~

It was a nightmare.

Every single person who was the bane of my existence in this town was here.

And the worst part?

They were all sentimental and wanted to- ugh- hug me.

Excuse me as I vomit at their attempt of sincerity.

"Rogue!"

I turned around to see Kitty flagging me down. "Yeah Kit?"

"Uh- well… umm… Here."

Don't ask me where she pulled the box from, but she pulled it out of somewhere and thrust the long narrow box into my hands. I looked at the box in shock and confusion before glancing back at her.

Then back at the box.

"He told ya ta give this ta me, didn't he."

She nodded eagerly at me. After a few moments of both of us just standing there, staring at the white pristine box, Kitty couldn't stand the suspense anymore.

"Well, are you, like, going to open it?"

"Ya aren't gonna leave me alone until Ah do, are ya?"

"Not a chance."

Sigh.

"Fine. Hold my cap." I took off the offending headgear and tossed it at her. I undid the ribbon (which was white too, by the way) and lifted the lid.

"Oh my god! That is, like, so romantic!"

Inside the box were six calla lilies. Five orange rust lilies and a single white one.

Damn the man and his good tastes.

"What does the note say? Rogue, you have, like, got to read the note!"

"Kit-take a chill pill already."

Even though I was saying this, my hands were already hastily flipping the card over to read the message.

_ Chere, please meet me after the ceremony._

_ Ps. I'll be at your jeep, so you really can't evade me._

Okay so the Kitty in me was in lovey dovey hysterics. However, I was the dominant personality in my head and didn't take to well to being cornered yet again… in the near future.

My eyes narrowed as they focused on the handwritten scrawl on the rectangular paper. Maybe if I learn voodoo, I could use Remy's handwriting on him in a way to make him suffer from a distance.

Yeah. That might work.

"Girls! In your places!" One of the teachers called out to us.

The sound of Pomp and Circumstance being played by the school began and all of a sudden I felt in a panic. I got up to place the lilies somewhere, anywhere really, when the female teacher hastily re-directed me to the line again.

"Kit! Ya gotta take these for me!"

"What? No. Remy expressively told me they were for you."

"But Ah can't take these up there! He'll see that ah have them!"

"And? Is that such a bad thing?"

"Well, no, but it's givin' him the wrong message. Ah don't want ta talk ta him."

"Well," she started to move backwards from the line into her own spot a few yards away, "he's pretty much going to talk to you afterwards no matter what. I mean the note was pretty clear, Rogue."

"Kit!"

A teacher passed by and shhh'd me and followed the person in front of me down onto the football field.

I clutched the lilies to me, trying to hide it from the sight of one potential man in the crowd.

* * *

Here's the deal. The reason why this chapter is so late was because me mum had a heart attack at the end of October and so my sister and me had to fly down to Vegas (parents were on vacation). Good news though, she's still a live and kicking after open-heart surgery (triple bypass).  
Then, getting back to school, I had to make up the two tests, prepare for two oral exams and write a few essays. As such, I did not have the appropriate time to dedicate to this story.

Alrighty then. This chapter is more of a filler chapter, if I do say so myself. Not exactly how I wanted to end it, but I think what I have right here is pretty good. I'd feel like I was rushing things if I went further with this chapter. Next chapter you'll see the rest of graduation and then the aftermath of graduation. Hope you all enjoy! Thanks for waiting.


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